Fire In The Water: Kindling Fire
by Silhouettes of Starlight
Summary: "To me, death was always a certainty before everything happened. I still believe that everyone deserves death...if not, then there are things left unfinished, even when you don't know what they are. I am of the few that did not deserve death, now I find myself looking for a place to belong, to fit. It's a need to escape loneliness and to not just be invisible, but to find warmth."
1. Prologue

**This is a story of Vampire Diaries-obviously-hope you enjoy the reading and review...I do enjoy comments and thoughts and such. To be clear, I do not own anything that belongs to Vampire Diaries, only the things that are not from Vampire Diaries that I insert. Have fun reading!**

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**Prologue**

* * *

It is past dusk in The Windy City that is Chicago with the stars shining ever bright in the sky while the city remains alive in its nightly activities. It is a city full of life in its various forms of performing arts, making it a place that one has to behold in their life, at least once.

In this great city, a melodic tune can be heard from within the comforts of a home in a most luxurious apartment complex. This tune comes from a young woman playing her guitar with light strokes of her fingers in peaceful bliss while wearing a smile as she sits cross-legged on the couch in her spacious living room.

This woman possesses a natural beauty that is something to neither exaggerate nor claim as average. She has an oval-shaped face with pale complexion and high cheekbones. She has a slender body and beautiful light-blonde hair that cascades a few inches past her shoulders in wavy locks; bangs of her hair are swept to the side over her forehead. A soft dusting of freckles runs under her almond-shaped, pale jade-green eyes to over the bridge of her nose and she has soft, pink lips.

She plays her guitar as she hums a song that causes her to smile brightly, showing off her white teeth. She's wearing her usual clothing, which is a white, long-length, tank top with a cream, draped, open-front cardigan with long sleeves. She has light gray, cropped leggings. To match her outfit, she wears cream, cardy ugg boots.

Just as she picks up the pace of the tune, her phone rings, causing her to groan in annoyance for being interrupted from her music.

She places her guitar to her side on the couch and leans forward to pick up her phone from the coffee table in front of her before leaning back with a huff in annoyance, not caring to check who is calling her. "Hello?" she asks in her low-pitched, husky voice while holding her phone to her ear.

"_There she is,_" an accented voice says from the other line, causing her to roll her eyes while a smile displays on her lips as she props up her legs on the coffee table, making herself comfortable.

For some years, she has been used to that voice, which is one that she feels comfortable talking with and doesn't have a problem to spill her guts out to. It is a voice that has become a constant in her life after so much that has happened and she has admitted that she likes the accent without a care.

"Hello, Mouse," she says with a playful grin gracing her lips, which earns her a growl from the other end of the line that causes her to chuckle.

"_I_ _still don't like that nickname, Cat,_" the accented voice tells her, to which she simply hums in agreement. "_Anyway, I'm calling to let you know that I'm on my way back._"

The woman smiles widely as she sits up straighter, letting her legs fall to the floor in her happiness to hear such news. "Really?"

"_Yes, and you'll finally be able to take part in my daily plans…not that you couldn't before,_" he says and the blonde-haired woman scoffs, annoyed with him, knowing he must be grinning at the moment.

"Finally! I've been seriously bored ever since you took off on your own and left me behind, you idiot," the woman tells him as she wears a glare and tries to send it through the phone. "But Chicago has become my favorite place…so far."

"_I do apologize for leaving so suddenly, but I had an emergency to deal with and I knew you'd like it there," _he says. _"Besides, I wouldn't leave you on your own without finding a way to know that you're all right."_

A thought crosses her mind, remembering the talk they had over the phone after she found out he left Chicago. "Let's forget the part that you appointed me my own stalker…So, did you do it?" she asks as she stands up and stretches her limbs, bringing them back to life and makes her way to the kitchen.

"_With some complications and an unexpected result,_" he tells her as she holds the phone to her ear with her shoulder while she prepares herself a glass of wine.

"That's great, you finally get to obsess over something else," she tells him while wearing a grin as she takes a sip from her drink with her phone on her hand again.

"_There is another thing,_" he says, causing the woman to frown.

"Which is what?" she asks as she swirls her drink.

"_First, I am having some problems and I'll be in need of your help with my plans from now on,_" he tells her, to which she nods, even though he can't see her. "_I prefer to have someone I completely trust by my side._"

"Understandable and you can blame the reluctance of others trusting you on your reputation," I say with a small chuckle. "And what is the second thing?" she asks as she takes another sip from her drink.

"_Second, we'll be discussing whatever you had going on with my darling older brother,_" he says, to which she shrugs, not caring for the scowl that he must be wearing at the moment.

"Come on, Mouse, I only told him where you were so you could settle your differences and everything else. So, did you talk or fight?" she asks and hears him laugh on the other end, which causes her to raise her eyebrows in amusement.

"_A bit of both. We'll be discussing this further when I arrive and we meet with my favorite witch,_" he says, causing her to groans in annoyance.

"Why? I don't like her and she obviously doesn't like me," she whines as she downs what remains of her drink in one sip before leaving her glass on the counter in the kitchen. "She makes it quite clear on every visit that I'm a freak of nature with her subtle hints, which are not so subtle and you know it."

She can hear a groan from the other end of the line as she leans forward on the counter of the kitchen with her arms for support, knowing that he must be thinking on how to persuade her to go with him. "_I know you dislike her…_"

"Nor do I trust her," she puts in.

"_But she is what I need to find a solution for my unexpected complications,_" he tells her as she makes her way back to the couch.

"Fine," she tells him, earning a chuckle from the other end of the line since she knows that it is best to simply endure the witch.

"_Don't be upset, Cat, I'm bringing someone to keep you company that is not the witch nor me,_" he tells her, which has her scrunching up her nose in dislike at having to meet someone since she isn't really good with socializing.

"Excellent," she says, making sure he knows she's being sarcastic as she plays with the small bermuda blue crystal teardrop pendant, which is wrapped in silver filigree around the edges and hangs on the silver brass connector attached to her silver necklace. "I'll finally be included in your daily activities with a side of unexpected company."

She can feel the indignant look that he must be wearing before hearing him say, "_I always include you in my daily activities—except for this one because I was in a hurry—but I always do._"

"Yeah, whatever you say, Mouse," she tells him while grinning, trying to make him feel guilty.

"_Yes, well, I'll be seeing you soon, so wait for a time and date,_" he says. "_We have a lot of work to do and nice try at trying to make me feel guilty._"

"It was worth a shot and you better come through with the promise you made me," she tells him in a more serious tone that matches his.

"_How can I forget since you remind me constantly?" _he says, to which she smiles.

"All right, then," she says and releases a yawn. "I'll be seeing you soon."

"_Goodnight, Cat,_" he tells her as she stands up and makes her way to her bedroom.

"Goodnight, Mouse," she tells him with a smile before hanging up her phone and falling backwards on her bed.

_Fun times ahoy, _she thinks as she stares up at the ceiling.


	2. Chapter 1

**Like I will always say, i own nothing that belongs to the Vampire Diaries, except for the obvious things.**

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**Chapter 1**

* * *

I could feel the chilly air begin to enter through my clothes for standing outside too long and I am thankful that I am not one who feels the weather so easily. I enjoy the sun's rays hitting my skin, even if they aren't giving me any warmth. I watch people walking around me with a place to be or something of the sort, none of them taking notice of me.

I huff as I continue to stand in front of Gloria's bar, wearing the same clothing of last night, but the cream cardigan is now a cream, long-sleeve, sweater dress. I crane my neck, looking around and trying to find a certain face, familiar to me after some years.

I decide to pull my phone from my brown shoulder bag to check the time since it is past the time I had agreed to meet with him in front of Gloria' reading the time, I put my phone back into my bag and continue to look around. And I ask myself, _Where is he?_

"Hello, Cat," a familiar accented voice says from behind me, causing me to turn around and smile at the person to whom the voice belongs to. _Klaus, _I think I might've said that out loud, but he's not laughing, meaning that I didn't.

"Mouse!" I say excitedly in my low-pitched, husky voice before I engulf him in a hug, standing on the tip of my toes with my chin on his shoulder, for I am a few inches shorter than him while I take in his familiar scent.

He returns the hug with a chuckle, wrapping his arms around my waist before pulling away from me and I see him wearing his usual smirk. "It's been a while."

"Yes, it has, you idiot," I tell him as I give a light push to his shoulder, which didn't do much, and that's when I notice the blonde-haired man standing behind him, causing me to frown at him with a small smile before saying, "Hello."

"Hi," the blonde-haired man greets me with a frown of his own as he eyes me. I saw the flash of hunger in his eyes as he eyes me, which tells me he's a vampire. He shakes his head before turning to Klaus with a questioning look. "I didn't know you had a girl for yourself, Klaus."

"Yes and," Klaus says as he gently grasps my shoulders from behind and has me facing Stefan, "this is Stefan Salvatore," he introduces the blonde-haired man to me as Klaus releases my shoulders. "He's the one I've told you about from the Jazz Age."

I smile at Stefan nervously and extend my hand for him to shake. "Hello, Stefan. Nik's told me about you," I say as my breathing stops the moment Stefan shakes my hand, causing me to frown at the feeling of some sort of abnormal familiarity, which I don't understand since I've never met him before in my entire life.

I shake my head and rid myself from any feelings I may be getting from him before releasing his hand. I also noticed the very small shiver his body exhibited when he came in contact with my skin. His shiver can either mean that he also felt the familiarity or it's the normal shiver that everyone exhibits when they come in contact with my skin.

"So, are you Klaus' girlfriend?" Stefan asks me and I chuckle at Klaus' look of horror.

"She's like a sister to me, Stefan," says Klaus. "The mere thought of being with her in _that way _makes me want to tear my head right off."

I frown as I look at Klaus. "What?"

"No offense, but that is how it feels whenever I even border on the thought of _being_ with you in _that_ way," Klaus tells me and I nod in agreement.

I look at Klaus before saying, "I have to agree since that is how I also feel about you, Mouse." _I can only ever view him as an older brother and never go any further than that, it's too weird to even think about._

Stefan forces himself to smile before frowning at Klaus. "'Mouse'?"

Klaus rolls his eyes in annoyance when Stefan gives him a questioning look, most likely confused as to why I refer to Klaus as 'Mouse'. "It's just something she has decided to call me ever since she discovered it."

"Klaus, Mouse," I say with a small chuckle as Stefan releases his own. "It rhymes."

"It does," says Stefan and we calm our laughing when we notice Klaus giving us a hard look.

"Yes, well, to oppose her nickname, I began calling her 'Cat', but it didn't leave much of an impact as I wanted it to and the nickname makes her sound cute, which is not what I had intended," says Klaus.

"Poor little you," I say to Klaus with a little pout to mock him and I receive a playful glare from him.

"I didn't catch your name," Stefan asks me. _Because I didn't say it, _I think and I refrain from chuckling at my inner sassiness.

"I'm Gwen Pierson—just to be clear, it's only Gwen, not a nickname—Klaus' only friend; I think I am," I answer as I look to Klaus for confirmation and he nods, agreeing to me still being his only friend, to which Stefan raises his eyebrows in surprise before turning to Klaus.

"Gwen has been my friend after our meeting six years ago. Granted, her appearance is what drew me in, but we have been best friends since then," Klaus says as Stefan continues to eye me curiously and I give him a small smile.

"So, you _do _have friends; could've fooled me," Stefan says with a grin and I laugh at Klaus' glare that is directed at Stefan.

"She wasn't my only friend, Stefan," Klaus tells him with his own devious grin and I stop laughing.

"So, you're a vampire?" Stefan asks me, causing me to release a small chuckle. "You don't seem to be a werewolf, but..."

It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't know what I was. No one ever knows what I am and it would be rare if someone ever did know. Well, experienced witches seem to know what I am with only being in my presence, but, apart from them, no one else seems to be able to figure it out.

"Maybe," I tell him with a playful grin, which causes him to frown. Knowing Klaus, the less information I give to anybody that he doesn't fully trust—Stefan _not_ being an exception—the better it will be for me. "So, what now?"

"Let's go inside and meet with my favorite witch," Klaus says and I roll my eyes in annoyance at having to be near the witch that wishes to incinerate me with her eyes, which makes me wonder what I have ever done to this woman to make her hate me. _Apart from being an abomination in her eyes like every other witch, _I think dryly.

"I don't know why we couldn't have just gone to _my_ witchy friend," I mumble as I think of the only witch I have ever met that doesn't hate me, who also happens to be a close friend of mine.

"Because yours is mental," Klaus tells me, to which I stick my tongue out at him and he chuckles at my childish behavior. _Okay, maybe my witchy friend has her moments of talking to no one in particular or laugh out of nowhere, but she is a kind girl with a loving heart,_ I think._ I trust my witchy friend's quirky behavior than Klaus' witch's experience._

"She's a bitch by the way," I whisper to Stefan as we follow behind Klaus into the building, seeing a grin form on Stefan's lips at my remark.

"Looks familiar, doesn't it?" Klaus asks Stefan as the latter and I stand on either side of Klaus inside of the bar, looking around the empty place.

The whole bar is empty, being too early in the day to be open. What I like about the bars in Chicago is how they light up with not just lights, but with music and the people at night. Even so, Gloria's bar radiates waves of magic and such, which fits since the one who manages this place is a witch.

"I can't believe it's still here," Stefan says as he looks around the place.

The feeling of uneasiness is something I can never explain when I come into this place, but, given my status and the company I'm normally with, I can't blame any witch for being wary, hostile, annoyed or anything else when it comes to being in my presence.

"You gotta be kidding me," a feminine voice says to our left and the three of us turn to look at a dark-skinned woman with very short white hair, to which I scrunch up my nose in annoyance. _Gloria._

"So a hybrid walks into a bar, says to the bartender…"

"Stop," says Gloria, stopping Klaus from finishing whatever joke he was about to say. "You may be invincible, but that doesn't make you funny."

"The only thing we agree on," I whisper as I play with my necklace and Klaus rolls his eyes at me, but he does agree with the fact that his witch isn't one to fully trust.

"What was that?" Gloria asks as she gives me a knowing look that I want to just slap off her face.

"Hello, Gloria," I say as I give Gloria a fake smile, which the witch returns equally before turning to look at Stefan.

"I remember you," Gloria says to Stefan.

"Yeah, you're Gloria," Stefan says, to which Gloria hums in agreement as the three of us stand in front of her. "Shouldn't you be…"

"Old and dead? Now, if I die, who's gonna run this place, huh?" Gloria says with a smug smile as I stand between Klaus and Stefan.

_I would prefer dead, _I think. I shake my head and throw the thought away, disliking what I just thought, but I dislike even more the feeling I always get from the witch, which is one that makes me uneasy.

"Gloria's a very powerful witch," Klaus explains to Stefan.

"She can slow the aging down with some herbs and spells," I add to Klaus' explanation.

"But don't worry, it'll catch up to me one day," Gloria says with a cocky smile directed at me before she tells me, "Yet, it should've caught you."

"You should know," I say through clenched teeth as I manage to keep myself from lashing out at her with 'pretty and colorful' words, knowing that she's referring to what I am.

"Stefan, why don't you go and fix us up a little something from behind the bar?" Klaus says to Stefan while also stopping me and Gloria from going further than subtle insults.

_Why not just throw him out of the bar?_ I ask myself as I roll my eyes at Klaus' way of being subtle and Stefan appears to have thought the same as me.

"Yeah, sure thing," Stefan says with a tight smile before making his way towards the bar.

Klaus looks over at Gloria with an impish grin before saying, "You look ravishing by the way."

"Really?" I say as I roll my eyes, knowing that it is stupid for someone to charm his way into asking Gloria for something. Klaus knows that, but I give him points for trying.

"Don't," Gloria says, ceasing any other charming words from Klaus. "I know why you're here." Klaus, Gloria and I take a seat in one of her tables with me sitting closer to Klaus. "A hybrid out to make more hybrids? That kind of news travels. Aren't you satisfied with Gwen?" _Bitch,_ I think as I give her a forced smile.

"She gets a bit annoying and I'm looking for company that is less annoying," Klaus says with a playful smirk and I punch his arm, earning a fake grimace from him since he fails to fake a grimace while holding back a grin.

"You deserved that," I tell him with a sharp look as I glance at Stefan and know that he must be listening in on our conversation.

Klaus chuckles before becoming serious and looking at Gloria. "So, what am I doing wrong?" he asks her. "I broke the curse."

"You clearly must've done something wrong since you can't make hybrids," I say.

"She's right," Gloria says and Klaus glares at both of us. "Look, every spell has a loophole, but a curse that old…we'd have to contact the witch who created it."

"Well, that would be the Original witch. She's very dead," Klaus says with a smirk and I dread the idea of having to contact the Original witch since Klaus has only ever said how awful she was in much more 'colorful' words.

"Great. She'll be pleasant," I say sarcastically.

"And for me to contact her, I'll need help," Gloria says, causing me to frown at what she might need. "Bring me Rebekah."

"Rebekah," Klaus breaths and I smile at Gloria's idea. "Rebekah is a bit preoccupied."

"N, she's not," I say since I have always expressed my dislike on how he treats his family neither is their treatment fair.

"She has what I need. Bring her to me," Gloria tells Klaus and he glances at me as he debates his options, to which I motion to Gloria, making it clear that I want him to do as she says.

"What is this?" Stefan asks from the bar, grabbing our attention while looking at photo in his hand.

"I told you, Stefan," Klaus says as he stands up and I realize that Klaus hasn't told him about his past. "Chicago's a magical place."

"But this is me," Stefan says as he looks up at Klaus from staring at the photo, "with you."

"You haven't told him, have you?" I ask Klaus and receive a grin from the hybrid as a response, which causes me roll my eyes at him.

* * *

Klaus, Stefan and I walk into a warehouse with a confused Stefan following behind us, causing me to glare at Klaus' grin, which expresses his supposed knowing of everything and it's unnerving. _I just want to smack it off his face, _I think.

The warehouse is nothing special, just a normal warehouse with rows and rows of boxes and other things meant for storage that are probably abandoned, making it the perfect place for Klaus to hide his coffins since it's rare for people to come in here.

"I can't believe you brought him here without telling him first," I whisper to Klaus.

I continue to walk next to Klaus as Stefan follows behind us while I mentally criticize Klaus' way on how to handle things, which is one that can cause anyone to want to pull their hair out in frustration and lose their mind. All in all, he can be a total ass when he wants to be.

"This doesn't make any sense. Why don't I remember you?" Stefan asks as he continues to look at the photo he took from Gloria's while I watch Klaus becoming a bit annoyed with the questioning.

"You said it yourself, that time had a lot of dark holes," Klaus answers as if it is enough of an answer and I roll my eyes at him.

"As if that answers his questions, Nik," I say and receive a grin from him, to which I glare in return.

"If you knew me, why haven't you said anything?" Stefan asks Klaus as Stefan and I continue to follow Klaus further into the warehouse.

"I'm a little busy right now. Memory lane will have to wait," answers Klaus.

"What the hell is going on?" Stefan asks as he grabs Klaus' arm to gain his attention and I stand next to them. "Answer me."

Klaus's face may be a calm one, but it must not be confused with that because I can see the annoyance behind the calmness while Stefan is quite frustrated. Anyone else who touches Klaus like that would be dead, but he won't hurt Stefan. _I hope, _I think.

Klaus removes Stefan's hand from his arm before saying, "Let's just say we didn't get off to a brilliant start."

"I'll say," I say as I look around, knowing the story of Klaus and Stefan, and how they met in the past. "He hated you, actually," I say to Stefan, earning a frown from the vampire before Klaus relates the story to him.

"Your sister?" Stefan asks at having been told that he had a thing with Klaus' younger sister in the nineteen-twenties. "So I knew another Original vampire?"

Klaus began to walk again with me and Stefan in tow. "If you can't handle it, then don't ask."

I take in my surroundings and frown at the coffins as a cold shiver runs down my spine, scrunching up my nose at having to know what is inside and the reason, which, to me, there is none. "You better keep your promise, Nik."

"I will, so be patient," Klaus tells me as he approaches a coffin before lifting the lid, revealing a blonde-haired woman that is wearing a white outfit from the nineteen-twenties while Stefan and I approach the coffin to look at the woman with the dagger in her chest.

And one name enters my mind…_Rebekah._

"Well, you did say you'd wake them many times before and you still haven't woken them up," I say as I give Klaus an annoyed look.

"I promised to wake them, but we never set a deadline," Klaus tells me as I look closer at Rebekah, thinking that she is be beautiful girl, if her skin wasn't gray and dead-looking. _Technically, she is dead, _I think.

"I don't recognize her," Stefan tells Klaus as the latter strokes the woman's cheek affectionately.

"Don't tell her that. Rebekah's temper's worse than mine and certainly worse than Gwen's," Klaus says before removing the dagger from the woman's chest as I glare at his remark about me. "Time to wake up, little sister."

The three of us continue to look at Rebekah for a while as we wait for her to awaken from her slumber of death while I begin to get antsy from standing still for so long without doing anything, except stare at Rebekah's body in the coffin.

"How much longer, Nik?" I ask Klaus as we continue to look down at Rebekah while Stefan paces.

"Any day now, Rebekah," Klaus says to the slumbering woman. "She's being dramatic."

"As if she had a choice," I mumble sarcastically and receive a warning glare from Klaus, meaning that Stefan doesn't know much and he wants to keep it that way, so it is better to keep quiet.

"Look, why don't you just tell me what the hell is going on?" Stefan asks as he stands between me and Klaus. "I mean, you obviously brought me here for a reason, right?"

"He always has a reason for anything he does, including our friendship," I say with a grin as Klaus grins at me.

"You are my best friend above anything else," Klaus tells me with a smirk before looking at Stefan. "And you have many useful talents."

"Do I?" asks Stefan.

"In fact, I learned some of my favorite tricks from you," Klaus tells Stefan with a grin as I roll my eyes at the hybrid's joy at the mere thought of torturing humans, but I know I can't do much, for it is something in his nature.

Each vampire has a side that needs to be let out and I know of it, even though I dislike it with my entire being. For as much as someone may want to change them, they cannot. It is a side that cannot be tamed nor contained, for it becomes a part of them. They themselves would be stupid to fight it because it will only make things worse.

"He was your number one fan, Stefan," I tell him as we begin to make our way out of the warehouse, following Klaus once more and I give one more glance to the coffins before turning back to follow Klaus.

"Why should I believe any of this?" asks Stefan as we stop in front of a security guard.

Klaus faces the security guard and approaches him, ready to compel him further than he already must be. "**When she wakes up, tell her to meet us at Gloria's bar. Then volunteer your carotid artery and let her feed until you die,**" he says to the security guard and the latter simply nods without a second thought or a care of losing his life before Stefan and I continue to follow Klaus out of the warehouse.

"Where are we going?" asks Stefan.

"You think I'm lying, Stefan? You and I knew each other. You trusted me with one of your secrets and now I'm gonna prove it to you," Klaus answers as I realize where we're going.

"How?" asks Stefan.

"He means that we're going to your old apartment," I answer as we exit the warehouse.

* * *

"What a charming little homestead," Klaus says as we all arrive at the apartment complex of Stefan's old home and walk into the hallway that leads into his home.

"Mine's cleaner and less broody-looking," I say as I look around the dull looking walls before we stand in front of a door.

I notice Klaus' wary look as he looks at the missing doorknob of the door in front of him and I can see the suspicion by the look of his face before he pushes the door open while wearing a hard look on his face.

We all look around before I turn to look at Klaus. "What is it, Nik?"

"Do you feel that?" Klaus asks with a finger raised before looking at Stefan. "Is anybody here?"

"Calm down, Nik. It may be nothing," I say, knowing how paranoid he can get as I tour around the place, scrunching up my nose at the amount of dust in the apartment. _He couldn't get someone to take care of the place or something? _I ask myself.

"It's been vacant for decades. People must break in all the time," Stefan explains and I nod in agreement while we scour the place.

"That must be it, 'cause I don't feel anything out of the ordinary," I say.

"You wouldn't know," Klaus remarks with a grin towards me, earning a glare from me.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Stefan asks Klaus.

"Your friend, Liam Grant, the one who drank his wife's blood…I never could figure out why you wanted his name. And then you told me your little secret, it was all part of your special little ritual," says Klaus.

"To write it down," Stefan says as he seems to remember what Klaus' talking about while I frown at the place being intact.

"And relive the kill over and over again," says Klaus.

"Which is very creepy, if you ask me," I say.

Klaus goes over to a wall to simply pull it open and reveal a secret closet, grinning over at Stefan. "You believe me now?"

I frown curiously and go to see what's within the closet, but, before I can take a step towards it, Stefan is already at the entrance of the closet, surveying the small place as Klaus approaches me with a troubled look.

"I think you're right, someone was here," I whisper to Klaus, making sure Stefan doesn't hear us.

"I know. The question is: Who?" Klaus whispers back. "There aren't many people living in this floor and it doesn't look like anyone took anything when they broke in."

"It's not a coincidence that someone breaks into an apartment where a vampire used to live and takes nothing. They must've been looking for him," I say and Klaus nods in agreement.

"Look what I found," Stefan calls, grabbing my and Klaus' attention. "1918, single malt," he says as he presents us with a bottle of alcohol.

"My favorite," Klaus says and I huff.

"Is alcohol the only thing you guys drink?" I ask and receive a grin from both of them.

"Let's go and find someone to pair it with," Klaus says as he takes the bottle and begins to leave while I frown at Stefan's odd posture when he closes the door of the secret closet, but I think nothing of it and turn to follow Klaus.

* * *

Klaus, Stefan and I find ourselves back at Gloria's bar after dusk with the bottle that Stefan had found to pair it with something of hers while I watch them. I look around and smile at the place filled with music.

Gloria approaches us with drinks and eyes Klaus. "Where's Rebekah?"

"She'll be here. I can't just conjure her on demand," Klaus answers before Gloria takes her leave.

Klaus and I notice Stefan's mood, causing me to ask, "Why so broody?"

"I thought Chicago was your playground," Klaus says and I roll my eyes at Klaus' lack of sensibility.

"This is why you asked me to be your wingman? Because you liked the way that I tortured innocent people," Stefan says as he turns in his seat to face me and Klaus.

"Well, that's certainly half of it," says Klaus.

"What's the other half?" asks Stefan and I chuckle.

"Mouse never does things that won't benefit him in the end, making you essential to him for some reason," I explain to Stefan and Klaus grins.

"Yes, well, the other half, Stefan, is that you used to want to be my wingman," Klaus says as he pours the drink into two shot glasses and slides one over to Stefan as I take a sip from my lighter drink before Klaus tells Stefan of how close they were in the past. "To friendship," Klaus says as he raises his shot for a small toast between the three of us.

"To friendship," I say with enthusiasm, trying get rid of the broody atmosphere as we all touch our drinks together before downing their contents.

"So I'm confused," Stefan begins as Klaus pours his glass with more of the 1918 drink into a glass. "If we were such great friends, then why do I know you as the hybrid dick who sacrificed my girlfriend on an altar of fire?"

I frown at Stefan before scowling at Klaus. "Really?" This would explain Stefan's sour mood towards Klaus and the guilty feeling I felt when we shook hands.

"She was the doppelgänger, Cat. You know it was necessary for her to die," Klaus tells me with a smirk as I continue to I scowl at him, but I did know that the ritual required sacrifices. It was necessary—like Klaus said—to break his curse and be free from it. Klaus looks over at Stefan. "Besides, all good things must come to an end," he says and begins to retell what happened that caused Stefan to forget he ever knew Klaus and Rebekah.

"You compelled me to forget," Stefan states as Klaus looks down at the counter, making sure Stefan doesn't know how much he didn't want to make him forget, for he is not one to show his emotions to just anyone and Klaus did have Stefan as a close friend, but I don't think he has that anymore.

"It was time for Rebekah and I to move on. Better to have a clean slate," Klaus says as he takes a sip from his drink.

"But why? You shouldn't have to cover your tracks," Stefan says, causing me and Klaus to look over at him, "unless you're running from someone." _He's quite insightful,_ I think as I continue to smile, making sure not to seem tense or anything of the sort.

"Story time's over," Klaus says and I take a sip from my drink, disliking the foul mood that Klaus is practically radiating.

"I need another drink," Stefan says as he takes a sip from his glass. "A real one." Klaus motions for Stefan to take his leave and he does.

I make sure Stefan is gone as Klaus refills his glass before I turn to look at him. "He's quite the detective."

"Yes, well, I don't want him knowing everything," Klaus tells me.

"Why's that?" I ask. "Well, apart from the fact that he doesn't need to know for the obvious reasons, but I thought he was your friend in some way."

"I don't want him to know about it and use it against me, especially his brother, Damon Salvatore," he says and I nod in understanding. "Now, about Elijah, what were you thinking?"

"He came here to Chicago looking for you and he saw me. He recognized me the second he laid his eyes on me and we got to talking, so I told him what you told me about myself or past-self or whatever. He seems like a very good man and brother…I like him. I told him where you were because he said he wanted to talk and sort things out with you," I say and Klaus laughs, causing me to frown at him.

"Everyone likes Elijah, it's something that comes with being him," he says and I hum in agreement. "He planned to kill me and I daggered him."

"You did not," I say, glaring at him while he smirks.

"Did you forget the part when he was going to kill me?" he asks and I roll my eyes.

"You and I both know that you can't die that easily," I say. "Did you even talk to him?"

"We talked about his want to get back our family after he'd kill me and I daggered him before he could do much damage," he says and I groan.

"You're unbelievable, even if he still tried to kill you. No wonder you're so scared at the thought of waking them. Imagine how it'll be when you do and they want to beat the crap out of you, which I think they will. I know I would," I say, causing him to chuckle.

"Well, who wouldn't," he says and I chuckle.

"You need to get those things out of them, Nik," I tell him and see him about to protest. "Not all, but…Look, you can't just tell me everything and not expect me to not want to meet them. Besides, it's just wrong to have them daggered and cart them around in coffins, not to mention creepy and psychotic and it bothers me to no end."

I watch him contemplate my words before sighing in defeat. "I know. I give you my word that, after we solve this thing about the hybrids and I manage to create a few, I'll wake them."

"Promise?" I ask as I give him a pointed look.

"I promise that I will," he says.

"Good," I whisper as I place my arms on the counter and bump my shoulder with his. "I missed you, Nik. It's been too long since you just disappeared at the mere sighting of the doppelgänger, even though you did break the curse."

"You complain like Rebekah and I missed you, too," he says as he takes a sip from his drink. "I apologize for leaving without telling you in advance and I did not miss your nagging." We both end up laughing. "Besides, I wouldn't just leave you unprotected. We both know how prone you are to danger."

"I attract danger, it's not my fault," I say.

I notice someone takes a seat where Stefan was. I look over at the man next to me from the corner of my eyes and narrow my eyes at him. _He looks handsome, I have to admit, but there's something off about him, _I think as I try to scoot closer to Klaus.

"I see they've opened the doors to the riffraff now," Klaus says and I acknowledge he must know the raven-haired man next to me.

"Oh, honey, I've been called worse," the raven-haired man says and Klaus smirks, causing me to raise my eyebrows at their way of greeting one another. _What happened to 'Hello'? _I ask myself. "Who might you be?" the raven-haired man asks me as he turns his gaze to me and I just smile when I see those beautiful blue eyes of his.

"None of your business, who are you?" I ask.

"Damon Salvatore," he says with a nod as he leans closer to me while I lean away from him. "You smell absolutely delightful."

I give him a wary look and turn to Klaus. "Stefan's brother, right?"

"Yes, he is," Klaus tells me and I nod before downing the rest of my drink. "You don't give up, do you?" he asks Damon as he plays with the small umbrella that you put in drinks while I continue to stare at Damon, keeping him in my line of sight.

"Give me my brother back and you'll never have to see me again," says Damon. "You can also give me your number," he tells me and I merely shake my head at him with a smirk.

"You have beautiful eyes, but you don't do it for me, darling," I tell him with an innocent look when I'm actually nervous at being in the presence of a vampire that is giving me the look of hunger.

"I am torn. You see, I promised Stefan I wouldn't let you die, but how many freebies did I really sign up for? And clearly you want to die, otherwise you wouldn't be here nor making a move on my friend, so…" Klaus trails off. _Damon's screwed, _I think.

"What can I say? I'm a thrill seeker," says Damon.

"Uh-oh," I say, causing Damon to frown at me before Klaus grabs him by his neck in a tight grip and I feel relieved that the bar is empty.

Damon grunts as Klaus' grip tightens, causing the neck to crack a bit. "Oh, dear, what was that?" Klaus takes the small umbrella and places it near Damon's neck. "I'm a little boozy, so you'll forgive me if I miss your heart the first few tries," he says with a chuckle before stabbing Damon in the stomach, causing the latter to groan. "No, that's not it. Hmm…" Klaus stabs him again and Damon yells in pain.

"Really? If you're going to kill him, kill him, Nik," I say.

"Almost done," Klaus tells me as he pushes the umbrella deeper into Damon.

"You want a partner in crime? Forget Stefan. I'm so much more fun," Damon says and Klaus throws him backwards into a table, which causes me to flinch when the table broke under Damon.

"Come on, Nik, just let him go," I say as I stand up from my seat, trying to persuade Klaus to not take the Salvatore's life for just wanting his brother back.

As Damon groans on the floor, Klaus breaks a piece from a chair, making a makeshift stake. "You know I can't do that, Cat. Besides, he won't be any fun after he's dead," Klaus says as he kneels next to Damon and raises the stake, but, before he could stake Damon, the wood catches on fire.

I turn and see that Gloria had just saved Damon's life as Klaus grunts in annoyance before throwing the burning stake away. I sigh in relief at not having to see Klaus take Damon's life, no one should die for wanting their family back with them.

"Really?" Klaus asks Gloria, clearly annoyed at having been stopped from staking Damon.

"Not in my bar. You take it outside," Gloria says as she points to the door with a finger to make her point clear while I roll my eyes at the whole spectacle.

"I think it's safe to say that you're never a happy drunk," I say to Klaus, who simply ignores me.

Damon goes to stand up but Klaus pushes him back down. "You don't have to negotiate your brother's freedom. When I'm done with him, he won't wanna go back." Klaus stands up and I follow him out of the bar, hearing Damon groan behind me.

"You promised you'd never kill someone in my presence, Nik," I mutter to him as we exit the bar and simply walk side by side. "It's enough that I actually know that you kill and how you do it, which I don't mind because it's who you are, but I'd like to not have to be near that."

"I know, but can you blame me? I'm a bit drunk," he tells me and I shake my head at him. "Let's go and check on Rebekah."

"What about Stefan?" I ask.

Klaus gets his phone out of his pocket and I see him write a text message. "He'll meet us there."

* * *

Klaus and I approach the coffin where Rebekah was, only to see it empty. I shiver at the cold and empty feeling that is creeping up my back, prompting me to look around. I look behind the coffin and see the security guard dead on the floor, which is a bloody mess.

"Mouse," I whisper and, once I have his attention, I motion to the dead body.

"Rebekah, it's your big brother," Klaus calls as he looks around while I do the same. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." I watch as the blur of a vampire running goes straight to Klaus, causing me to gasp as I watch Rebekah plunge the dagger that was in her chest into Klaus' chest, which causes him to gasp in pain.

"Go to hell, Nik!" Rebekah hisses at Klaus.

She steps back as Klaus removes the dagger from his chest and lets it fall on the floor while Rebekah continues to glare at him. "Don't pout. You knew it wouldn't kill me."

"No, but I was hoping it would hurt more," says Rebekah, not noticing my presence as she walks away while Klaus follows her and I follow behind them a little bit to the side, trying to calm my rare beating heart from having seen Rebekah come out of nowhere and stabbing Klaus in the chest.

"I understand that you're upset with me, Rebekah, so I'm gonna let that go, just this once," he tells her as he holds her still with a hand on her shoulder. "I brought peace offerings." I roll my eyes at how he is defining me and Stefan. "You can come in," he says and Stefan walks in slowly from around a corner.

"Stefan," I hear Rebekah say, smiling at the sight of Stefan.

Klaus walks over to Stefan and places a hand on his shoulder while keeping their eyes locked. "**Now you remember.**"

I see Stefan take a deep breath as he closes his eyes, knowing that the memories must be flooding him by now while we wait for him to take in the memories from the past and I cross my arms over my chest, noticing that Rebekah hasn't seen me.

Klaus stands behind Stefan, making sure that Stefan sees Rebekah after having his memories back and grins at me, only for me to shake my head at him for having even taken his memories in the first place.

Stefan opens his eyes after finally having remembered what Klaus made him forget. "Rebekah," he whispers and slowly approaches her with a small smile, finally recognizing her.

"Stefan," Klaus calls and Stefan turns to him before he can continue to approach Rebekah as he now recognizes Klaus.

"I remember you," Stefan whispers to Klaus. "We were friends."

"We _are_ friends," Klaus corrects as he places a hand on Stefan's shoulder. "And now the reason you're here," he says as he looks at Rebekah before approaching her. "Gloria tells me you know how to contact the Original witch."

"'The Original witch'?" Rebekah says in mockery.

"What do you have that Gloria needs?" Klaus asks her and I see her reach to her neck with her hand and looks down in alarm.

"Where's my necklace?" Rebekah asks as she looks up at Klaus. "What did you do with it? I never take it off." Once again, I see Stefan tense up, but choose to ignore it for the time being and pay attention to Klaus and Rebekah.

"I didn't touch it," Klaus says to Rebekah.

"We need to find it, Nik," Rebekah says as they both begin to get angry. _This is escalating quite fast, _I think.

"Tell me that's not what she needs," Klaus says as he glares at his sister before grabbing her shoulders in a rough grip. "Tell me that's not what she needs, Rebekah!"

Rebekah pushes Klaus away and turns her back to him to walk over to her coffin. I watch her look around it, pushing away the pillows and such, only to close the lid harshly with a yell and practically destroy the coffin in search of her necklace.

"I'm assuming you'll need to buy another coffin?" I ask Klaus and he glares at me while I shrug innocently.

"It's not here!" Rebekah yells in frustration as she turns back to us, finally noticing me for the first time and freezes on the spot.

"Jen?" she asks me and I open my mouth to correct her as she continues to stare at me with wide eyes in disbelief, her mouth slightly open in shock.

"Not exactly, sister," Klaus says as he stands next to me and Rebekah looks over to him. "We have a lot to discuss, not to mention that we have to locate that bloody necklace of yours. So, we will talk after giving Gloria a visit and having you settled into the modern age." Klaus motions to me as he keeps looking at Rebekah. "This is Gwen Pierson and you'll like her more than you liked Jen."

"Let's hope so," Rebekah says as she cocks her head to the side while eyeing my up and down, showing her dislike towards me, given my appearance. I keep my eyes locked with Rebekah's before taking a deep and unnecessary breath.

* * *

**Well, that was the first chapter and a very long one. i wasn't going for that long of a chapter but, there it is...I hope you enjoyed and please review and share your opinions. See ya later!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Well, here's another chapter, hope you enjoy. The Vampire Diaries and everything belonging to it is not mine.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

I can feel my body is still in its state of exhaustion from yesterday's events as I finally feel the aftermath of moving around so much and absorbing everything that has been going on in Klaus' life, which is no easy chore, even for someone like me. I'm only glad that my drapes manage to cover my room completely from the sun's rays and I snuggle further into the comfort of my armchair.

There's no sleep when it comes to being me, but I can get some if I am exhausted enough. Since I don't need sleep, I find it better to just sit on an incredible and extremely comfortable armchair. It's nothing fancy, just a brown armchair with a small pillow for me to use whenever I want to rest my head against the armchair.

"Wake up," I hear a voice say and I scrunch up my nose in annoyance, turning over to lie on my side to hide my face into the armchair and hope that the voice would take the hint when I don't answer. "Wake up or you'll find yourself without a heart."

"No need, I'm already awake," I say.

I groan, not wanting to deal with Klaus' sister that clearly doesn't like me. I sit up on my comfy armchair to find Rebekah on the doorway to my room since Klaus decided that she should stay with me for the time being, apart from the fact that he is still angry with her for not having the necklace that Gloria required to contact the Original witch.

She wears a gray tank top and white shorts that Klaus managed to buy her the night before with some modern clothes to go out with. She looks at me with her arms crossed over her chest while I wear the same clothes but the cream sweater dress is now a classic cardigan with the buttons closed. I sigh before I stand up from my armchair and turn to look at her while I free my hair from the braid I put it in last night.

"Yes?" I ask her as she continues to give me an annoyed look that has me become nervous under her gaze, causing me to wring my wrists. _Well, who wouldn't be nervous when a vampire is giving you a nasty look, a vampire who is a thousand years old? _I think.

"I'm hungry, I have no idea how to work a kitchen in this age and Nik said that you can give me food, so get on with it," she tells me before leaving as I stare incredulously at the spot where she was.

I release a heavy sigh. "This is gonna be a long day," I mumble to myself as I rub my hands over my face, forcing myself to get into gear before making my way out of my bedroom and I squint at the sunlight streaming through the sliding door that leads into my balcony. I approach Rebekah and stand behind the couch to see her trying to see how the remote control of the TV works while wearing a determined look. "Need any help?"

"I need you to make food," she says as she continues to try and figure out how the TV works.

_Okay, sassy, _I think. I make my way into the kitchen and check my phone, seeing that it is just past nine o' clock in the morning before I get the ingredients to make scrambled eggs with bacon. "You want a blood bag, 'cause Nik left some blood bags in the fridge for you?"

"I'll have to settle for a blood bag," she sighs in irritation and I nod as I begin to scramble the eggs.

"Okay," I say and I can practically feel her intense eyes on me. _I don't need to be a magician to know that, _I think.

Taking a page from Klaus' personality, I decide to be blunt, even if it might end with my head across the room. "I know you're curious about me."

"You think so?" she asks sarcastically as I look up and see her looking at me with her head tilted to the side while grasping the remote control in her hand, forgetting about trying to understand how the TV works as she keeps her eyes on me.

"And I know that you don't quite like me," I say and I don't need to be a magician to know that either.

"It's only that the mere image of you causes me to want to tear you to pieces," she says, to which my heart begins to beat faster than the shallow beat it normally beats to, "but I think I should listen to Nik and get to know you since you're not going anywhere any time soon. So, who are you?" she asks as she stands up, drops the remote control on the couch and makes her way over to the counter in front of me. "What are you? What's your story, Gwen Pierson?"

She smirks as she takes a seat on the stool at the other side of the counter in front of me as I cook breakfast. "Well, I am Gwen Pierson. I was the daughter of two human parents and I had a little sister; they were the only family I had and they died in an accident, which I'm not going into detail."

I could practically still hear the echoes of their voices as we all sat in the car while driving in the rainy night. I also remember the small moment that happened in the blink of an eye when everything became dark. The only thing that I remember after feeling like I was in a roller coaster was pure silence, a type of silence that I will always dread and loathe.

That silence and darkness has been my greatest fear and anguish, for what came after was something I would never want to experience in my life, something that I would never even wish upon my enemies. The mere thought of this causes me to want to scream, but I manage to push it away, like I have done before.

She nods in understanding before frowning at me. "What are you?"

"The only people that know what I am are witches, experienced witches," I say as I lock eyes with her and I can see the confusion in them.

She eyes me up and down and shrugs before saying, "I would say vampire, but I have a feeling that is not the answer."

"No it's not," I say with a small smile as I put the bacon to fry.

"Then, what are you?" she asks as she crosses her arms on the counter while we look at one another.

"I'm what you would call a ghost," I say and she frowns at me. "A specific type of ghost."

She frowns at me and asks, "What do you mean?"

"I mean I am a ghost, but a special one," I say. "I turned into a ghost after I died. Normally, a ghost is dead, invisible and incorporeal, but I am very much corporeal whenever I want to be. At first, I was invisible to humans, except for supernatural beings—they see me all the time—and I was also incorporeal, but, with a lot of practice, I can do much more and be visible when I want to."

"If you're a ghost, what can you do?"

"I possess ghostly abilities that I have learned to control like: intangibility, invisibility—yet, any supernatural being can see me, but I am invisible to humans, unless I want to be visible to them—teleporting very small distances, and I am not good at moving things about; it's a bit tricky to move things. I have a heartbeat, but the rate of the beat is so low that it doesn't seem like I have one. I don't seem to need to breathe, but I do it out of instinct and Nik says I don't breathe whenever I do sleep, which is rare," I say. "I have low body temperature, so the cold doesn't affect me much."

"Interesting. You said you come back if you die." I nod and she asks, "What happens during the time you're dead?"

"I see things and, at the moment that I least expect it, I come back," I say while swallowing the lump that wants to grow in my throat.

"Really?" she asks, looking intrigued by this as I wait for the food to be done.

"Yeah, and supernatural beings are the only ones who can touch me, but it's weird for them because of the vibes I give as a ghost," I say and she nods with a look of being intrigued.

Rebekah smiles at me as she takes a deep breath. "That's enlightening."

"Glad i can be of some help," I say.

I turn around and reach for a plate in the cupboard above the sink before hearing Rebekah asks, "What did you mean when you said that you're a special kind of ghost, because of your strange abilities?"

I turn back to her with the plates in hand. "Yes and no. I mean that the only reason I am this special kind of ghost is because of my blood," I say as I place the scrambled eggs in the plate with some bacon to the side.

"That's why you smell really good—in a non-sexual way," she says and I laugh as I nod.

"Yeah," I say as I continue to laugh. "Something with my blood gives off a sweet scent to vampires and werewolves that they pick up quickly."

"You mean Jen's blood, right?" she asks and I nod. "The witch of my village mentioned that Jen was a special girl and that it had to do with her blood."

I sigh before I nod. "Yeah, well, Nik found out that my blood was the cause of me turning into this type of ghost and I can heal others with it. Also, vampire blood doesn't work on me. The moment I have vampire blood in my system, I become sick and puke it all out," I say. "Nik and I went to Gloria a few years back and she said that it had to do with my blood rejecting anything that will make it impure or something. My blood has healing properties and such, to which I can heal others with it; it's the reason why the supernatural can smell it."

"What about aging and such?" she asks as I place her plate in front of her.

"Well, a ghost stops aging when they die and I appear to be as imperceptible as a ghost," I say as I make my way over to the fridge to retrieve a blood bag for her. "I don't need food or sleep, but I manage to get sleep on rare nights; I only sleep when I exhaust myself with my powers, but not for long. I can eat, but I don't ever feel full or starving. I also wear the clothes in which I died in, but they can alter, and I have little control over it."

"When did you die?" she asks and I return to her with her blood bag.

"I died with my family in an accident when I was nineteen, that's when I came back to life. The doctors left my dead body alone and it disappeared from their sight when I woke up, which was due to me being a ghost and Nik was there, giving me the answers that I could not fathom as I freaked out about not being seen," I say as I clear up the kitchen.

"So you can't be killed," she says and I hear the question in her tone as I turn back to her, placing the blood bag next to her plate.

"I can be killed. My heart is my weak point, removing or destroying my heart is my kill switch, or so Gloria says. I thanked Gloria for telling me about what I am, which is the only time I liked her and I figured out my other abilities on my own and mastered them with Nik's help," I say as I take a seat next to her.

"So, to make sure I'm keeping up," she begins as she grabs her fork, "you're a ghost with the magical blood of Jen coursing through your veins and, thanks to that, you're a special kind of ghost. You can heal on your own and heal others as well, and vampire blood doesn't work on you. You also smell delightful to any vampire because of your blood."

I bow my head at her with a smile. "Yes to all of the above."

"I think I like you more than I did your ancestor," she says and I chuckle as she begins to eat. "You're kinder and you seem trustworthy."

I hear her gasp and look at her as she covers her mouth with her hand. "Are you okay?" I ask and she turns to me with wide eyes and I see a smile creeping on her lips.

"Nik wasn't joking when he said you're a very good cook," she says and we both chuckle. "This is surprising since you said you can't eat."

"Thank you. I used to cook a lot when I was alive," I say before she continues eating her breakfast and I am grateful she is no longer shooting daggers at me with her eyes.

* * *

After clearing the dishes, I find Rebekah trying to figure out my phone on my couch and I don't need to read her mind to know that it's beginning to frustrate her. I approach her cautiously and take a seat next to her on the couch with my hands on my lap.

"Need any help?" I ask as she lets out a groan in annoyance.

"It's better if you do before I tear it to pieces," she says with a growl while I chuckle at her and I grab my phone from her hand. "This technology thing is quite complicated."

"So we're spending the day in?" I ask.

"I think it is best. I'm not ready to fully take in the many changes of this century at the moment," she says and I nod with a smile.

To have to wake up from being forced into a sleep of death for almost a hundred years is quite of a shock, especially when there have been so many changes to get to this century. What may cause trouble for Rebekah are the many changes that involve technology since it is still advancing.

"Here," I say as I scoot closer to her and begin explaining to her how to use my iPhone, hoping that Klaus gets her one.

It takes a while for her to understand how to use it, but she picks up on it rather fast; well, she is a vampire, so I can't quite blame her. I'm only grateful that I am a patient person and I didn't develop Klaus' impatience while Rebekah manages to keep herself patient enough to learn how to use the phone.

"Not all phones are manageable through touch. Some are managed through buttons and I really hope Nik gets you one like mine, so my teachings haven't gone to waste," I say and she smiles triumphantly at her accomplishment.

"I'll make him get me one like yours, there's only so much nagging he can take," she says as she takes a picture of herself and I chuckle.

"You got that right," I say and I frown as a thought enters my mind. "Can you tell me about Jen?" I ask as I turn my body to fully face her, bending my legs under me.

She looks over at me and sighs. "Nik hasn't told you much about her, has he?"

"He told me that she was your neighbor a thousand years ago and that she did more bad than good to your family. He told me who her sister was and that Jen did heal faster than any human because of her blood, which was what made her strange, but that she wasn't aware of that," I explain and Rebekah turns to fully face me. "He also told me that she died a while after you were turned and, since she isn't here, that means her heart was destroyed, pierced or removed."

Rebekah sighs before pursing her lips. "Jen was very proud, selfish and uncaring when it came to other's feelings, but she was kind to those she cared about, up until the point when she treated you like waste," she says through clenched teeth.

"You were no exception, right?" I ask.

"No, but she wasn't always like that. We were friends when we were human and Klaus' younger brother—my older brother—came to love her deeply when he was human, but that stopped when we were turned into vampires," she says and I frown.

"What happened?" I ask

"Well, when we told her what we had been turned into, she yelled that we were monsters, that we were abominations and wished us death itself, breaking my brother's heart in the process when she found another suitor only minutes after she ended things with him," she says and I nod. "He tried many times to get her to change her mind, he even thought about compelling her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it."

"You mean Kol," I state and she looks at me with a grin.

"Klaus has talked to you about us," she states.

"Yeah, he told me your names and a vague description about each and every one of you, but that's all," I say. "Now I get why you didn't seem to like me, although Nik did tell me that Jen wasn't a person well-liked after you were vampires."

"Yes, I ended up hating Jen for spreading the word that we were monsters and turning everyone against us, further hurting us, especially Kol. She even told me she'd never be friends with a demon like me," she says. "It also doesn't surprise me that Nik didn't say much about us."

"Well, there is also the fact that, after I had once tried to un-dagger you, he stopped talking about you altogether, gave me a threat and made me promise to never do it again," I say and her eyes widen.

"You tried to defy him and you're alive?" she asks in bewilderment and I nod with a sheepish smile.

"I'm already dead, Rebekah."

"Why did you want to un-dagger us?"

"Well, I was curious about you all and, one day, I ended up in the same room where the coffins were. I happened to have opened yours. I touched the dagger and I _felt_ your pain," I say as I stare off into the distance as I recall the day that I had tried to remove the daggers, but it only made me feel pain.

* * *

"_Nik!" I called as I walked around the mansion that we were currently staying, which was somewhere near New Jersey. I sighed since I was bored out of my mind after weeks of helping Klaus find the stupid doppelgänger._

_I walked into a room, frowning at it since it had four coffins lying around. I walked around them, my frown never leaving my face. I felt a small chill go through my body as I continued to stand between the coffins. I had been looking for the library or Nik to take my mind off of things, but ended up in a room filled with coffins._

_I went to turn and leave the room when I somehow became curious about this one coffin that was next to me. I looked around, knowing that Klaus wasn't going to like it, but he couldn't do much since I was already dead. I approached the coffin and lifted the lid with ease, gasping when I saw the blonde-haired woman in it._

_I recognized her as Klaus' sister and looked at the dagger in her chest. Taking one more glance around the room, I reached in and brushed the dagger with my fingertips, gasping when I felt my chest being stabbed, causing me to yelp. I held my chest, coughing a bit as I tried to suck in air before I took a step back from the coffin. The feeling of suffocating went away the moment I removed my hand from the dagger, to which I frowned._

_I panted and approached the coffin again. I looked down at the young woman and couldn't help but feel sympathy since she was stuck in this state. With determination, I reached and grasped the dagger, groaning as the feeling of being stabbed returned with renewed strength. I went to pull it out of the chest, but I was pulled back and the lid of the coffin was shut._

"_What do you think you were doing, Cat?" I heard Klaus say and I turned to find him glaring at me, to which I sighed, knowing I was in trouble. "Didn't you know that curiosity killed the cat?"_

* * *

"I knew the pain the daggers were inflicting on you, so I wanted to take them out. You're the only one I've laid eyes on, apart from Elijah. It is very human of me, but I didn't want any of you to continue to go through that. Nik knows that—if I could—I would plunge one into him to have him feel the pain as well," I say and she chuckles. "I like it better when people play fair."

"You're not the only one who wants to give him a taste of his own medicine," she says and I grin with her.

"I did make him promise to un-dagger your family after he's done with his little mission with his hybrids," I tell her as I eye my guitar near the TV in front of us.

"Nik promised?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, I could care less about his hollow promises, but he knows that, even if he doesn't fulfill his promise, I will try to un-dagger your family. At least Elijah and Kol, Finn seems too gloomy, or so Nik says," I say and she laughs.

"Yes, Finn is Finn," she says. "I can't believe Nik daggered Elijah."

"Yeah, he said that Elijah tried to kill him or something, I don't know the full details," I say. "I only know that Elijah was looking for him, which is when we met and I told him where to find Nik so that they can resolve some issues or something. When Nik came back, Elijah was daggered."

We both fall silent as she seems to be deep in her thoughts while I stand up and go to retrieve my guitar before returning to the couch, earning a surprised look from Rebekah.

"You play?" she asks with a smile and I nod as I put my guitar in position as I cross my legs.

"Yeah, but not much. I only played for my sister, but now I play because it helps me remember her and the good times of being alive. I don't write songs, I only play around with songs that I like. My sister had given me the idea because she liked hearing lullabies before going to bed," I say as I keep myself from fully diving into a memory.

I stare down at my guitar as I tuned the guitar's strings. "Can you play me something?"

I look up at her and smile. "Sure." I give her a sharp look with a grin. "I'm only doing this 'cause you just woke up after being daggered, I don't play just for anyone, not even Nik."

She chuckles and nods. "Your secret is safe with me. I also feel quite special for this."

I nod and ponder at what song I can play for her as I continue to tune the strings of my guitar. I smile at finding one and begin playing as I clear my throat and begin to sing,

_I've been lonely, I've been waitin' for you_

_I'm pretending and that's all I can do_

_The love I'm sendin'_

_Ain't makin' it through to your heart_

_You've been hidin', never letting it show_

_Always tryin' to keep it under control_

_You got it down and you're well on your way to the top_

_But there's somethin' that you forgot_

_What about love?_

_Don't you want someone to care about you?_

_And what about love?_

_Don't let it slip away_

_What about love?_

_I only want to share it with you_

_You might need it someday_

I finish the final note and look up, since I normally look down as I play my guitar while I sing, only to find that Rebekah is wearing a soft smile, which causes me to smile.

"I take it you're not like Nik and you love the idea of love, right?" I ask and she nods.

"Nik says that I care and love too easily, but I could care less what he thinks. It's better to love than to not love and be miserable for the rest of your life," she says as I place my guitar against the coffee table in front of me before facing Rebekah.

"Well, you're not the only one," I say and she smiles before sighing. She narrows her eyes at me with a smile and I frown. "What?"

"Do you know how I am completely sure that you're Jen's doppelgänger, besides the fact that you look exactly like her, except that she had brown hair and deep brown eyes?" she asks.

"How?" I ask, deciding to ignore the fact that I look like a horrible woman, according to Klaus and Rebekah.

"Your necklace," she says and I look down at my necklace, which is the only one I ever wear and look up at her with a frown.

"My mother said that it's been passed down through the generations of my family," I say as I play with it, running my fingertips around the smoothness of the stone.

"That was Jen's necklace. Kol had given it to her as a gift," she says as she seems to become lost in a memory.

"Oh," I manage to say while I continue to frown.

_Great, I have a gift that my ancestor received from my antecedent's ex-boyfriend, who seems to hate her and must hate the mere image of her, which means that he might hate me further for having the necklace, _I think. _Even so, my mother gave me this necklace and it's the last thing I have that reminds me of my family, I could care less if it was Jen's._

"Nik was right, you're different than Jen in every way and not once did you lie to me, your heart would've given you away if you did, even at how shallow it beats. I can see us become very good friends," she says and I smile at her, happy that I'm not alone, not that I was because I have Klaus, but I feel much happier to know that I have someone else in my life.

"I can see that too," I say and I know she's not manipulating like most vampires do, Nik has told me that Rebekah is true to her words, until you betray her. "I am also glad that I have someone else who is a girl that I can talk with." She laughs and I join her as I pick up my remote control. "Want to learn how to deal with this?"

She groans as she slumps back into the couch, causing me to laugh at her irritation at having to catch up with the modern age and she throws a cushion into my face, but it doesn't stop me from chuckling at her and she begins to chuckle as well.

_Things seem to look up, if not for a while…_

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and review! See ya later!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter. Nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, only that which is obviously not from Vampire Diaries. Enjoy reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

I sigh once more since Klaus decided to start the day at a much too early hour, which caused me and Rebekah to scramble around the apartment since he still was in a foul mood, and I was getting quite annoyed with his pouting and glaring face. At least he is buying—better yet, compelling—clothes for Rebekah since she couldn't live out of just one outfit.

I was relieved when he got her an iPhone, a victory that I shared with her as she quickly added my number into her phone and hers in mine. She also started to take pictures of herself, me, Klaus and Stefan, and not just a few.

Now, we find ourselves in yet another store as Rebekah still seems to need more clothes, but I just think she likes shopping and, given the fact that I can never wear different clothes from the ones I'm wearing, I am not interested in shopping or anything of the like. I _did_ like shopping, but that was when I was alive.

"Move," I say as I nudge Klaus' shoulder with mine to make him give me more space on the red velvet chaise lounge that we're sharing while Stefan has his own cushioned seat.

Klaus nudges me back harshly and I glare at him. "I asked you if you wanted a chair, but you said you'd be walking and looking around the place and be finished by the time Rebekah was done."

"Well, I'm done, so learn to share," I say as I manage to find a comfortable position with us being shoulder to shoulder while we wait for Rebekah to come out of the fitting room after having taken a pile of clothes to try on.

I can still tell that Klaus is still upset that Rebekah lost the necklace, but she claims that she didn't lose it and it still doesn't change the fact that we don't have the necklace. Stefan seems to be bored out of his mind because he is just sitting while becoming lost in his thoughts or just being broody.

"Would you care for a drink, Cat?" Klaus asks me as a blonde woman approaches us with a bottle and tall glasses.

"It's too early to get drunk, Mouse," I say as the woman gives a glass to Stefan and Klaus before filling their cups with the drink and Klaus takes the bottle from her, taking care not to draw attention when talking to me since I am not visible to humans at the moment.

"Your loss," he says as he glances at me while I lean my head back into the seat.

"I doubt it," I say. _I get to be free from a hangover; although, now that I am dead, I doubt I'll ever get a hangover._

"There has to be more to this dress," Rebekah says from inside the fitting room.

"There's not," Klaus says and Rebekah emerges from the fitting room in a black, sleeveless mini dress that causes me to scrunch up my nose in disapproval.

"So women in the twenty-first century dress like prostitutes, then?" says Rebekah and my mouth falls open.

I look down and inspect my clothing, which now consists of the same leggings, ugg boots, but I now wear a cowl-neck sweater over my white tank top. My armpit length, blonde hair cascades past my shoulders in soft waves while I wear my necklace. _I don't look like a prostitute, _I think with a small pout.

"Hey!" I say. _Does she not see me?_

"Excluding you, of course," she tells me and I shake my head at her as she looks over to Klaus. "You know, I got dirty looks for wearing trousers."

"You wore trousers so women today could wear nothing," Klaus says and I elbow his stomach, earning myself a small groan from him, but I know he really isn't hurt; he is a damn hybrid and I doubt a little elbow to his ribs causes him any pain, his grin further proves that.

"And what is this music, it sounds like a cable car accident," she says as she looks up to where the music is playing in the speakers of the store on the ceiling. "I much prefer what Weny played for me yesterday."

Klaus turns to me with a frown and I give him a sheepish look, not forgetting that Rebekah gave me a nickname. "You play for her, but not for me?"

"It's different. She was in a box for almost a hundred years," I tell him and he huffs in irritation before I turn to Rebekah.

"'Weny'?" I ask with a smile and she shrugs.

"Term of endearment and I can't find another nickname," she answers and I chuckle.

"Okay, Bex," I say and she grins at me.

"It's dance music," Stefan tells Rebekah, explaining to her the reason for the tune of the song.

"People dance to this?" she asks and Stefan hums in agreement.

"Are we done?" Klaus asks, feeling the small tinge of anger radiating off of him and Rebekah approaches us with an innocent look on her face.

"And why are you so grumpy?" she asks her older brother as I watch the interaction in amusement.

"I needed one thing from you for my witch to find out why my hybrids were dying," Klaus says as Rebekah and I tilt our heads to the side at the same time in annoyance at his moping. "One thing: your necklace. And you lost it." He gives Rebekah a fake smile as I roll my eyes at him.

"You can be such a child sometimes," I tell him and he gives me a small nudge, further proving my point while I give him a playful glare.

"I didn't lose it. It's just been missing for ninety years," she says to Klaus and then eyes me and Stefan. "So, what do the ones who are not whining think?"

I laugh at her remark as Klaus glares at her while she shows off the dress she's trying on to me and Stefan. I once again scrunch up my nose in disapproval while Stefan simply nods at it. _He shouldn't say he likes it, _I think. _It's not gonna go well._

"I like it," Stefan says and I snort while Rebekah gives him an annoyed look. "What? I said I like it."

"I can always tell when you're lying, Stefan, and Weny gave me the disapproving look, so no need for comments about the dress," she says as she walks back into the fitting room in a fit, leaving me sniggering and Stefan with a bewildered look, not knowing what he did wrong as he glances at me and Klaus.

"You need to learn a bit about shopping, Stef," I say with a grin as Klaus salutes him with his glass.

"Nice one. Good work," Klaus says sarcastically with a fake smile towards Stefan.

"You're the one who pulled the dagger out of her," says Stefan.

"I heard that," says Rebekah from within the fitting room, causing Klaus and Stefan to groan in annoyance while I laugh.

"That's what you both get for being mean and daggering siblings," I say, earning a glare from both Klaus and Stefan.

"All right. I'm gonna get some fresh air," says Stefan, placing his glass on a crystal table in front of his chair before taking his leave while Klaus fully refills his glass.

"This is going to be a long day," I mutter and Klaus nods in agreement as he takes a huge gulp from his drink.

"Why does Nik call you 'Cat'?" Rebekah asks from within the fitting room and I grin at Klaus as he gives me a warning look that I'm going to choose to ignore.

"It's supposed to be as revenge for me calling him 'Mouse'," I say and I know that she must be frowning at this.

"Why do you call him that?" she asks and I give Nik a glance, only to see him glaring at me.

"What does it sound like?" I ask her while wearing a grin and wait for her to figure it out.

"You're insufferable," Klaus tells me and I chuckle before hearing Rebekah laughing from within the fitting room.

"Klaus, Mouse!" Rebekah says and I end up laughing with her as Klaus continues to glare before taking a big gulp from his drink. "Bit ironic since he's supposed to be the big bad hybrid," Rebekah and I laugh harder as Klaus nods, accepting his fate.

* * *

After having followed Rebekah into one more clothing store, we took her things back to my apartment, a bit exhausted from shopping. Klaus and Rebekah drank a bit from the blood bags while I settled for pure and simple water, even though I didn't need it.

While lounging on the living room, Klaus filled us in on the many supernatural inhabitants of Mystic Falls, Klaus and Rebekah's original home. For such a small town, it appears to be crawling with supernatural beings.

He told us about Damon, Stefan's older brother, who is a fairly old vampire that was turned with Stefan. Elena, who was still human by some miracle, the recently deceased doppelgänger and Stefan's deceased girlfriend. The others are Bonnie Bennett, the resident witch of the town, Caroline, a newly-turned vampire, Tyler, a werewolf, and Alaric Saltzman, a vampire hunter.

He gave us a much more detailed description of each one of them and complained about the trouble they all gave him to stop him from breaking the curse placed upon him. He also gave us the detailed version of Elijah's betrayal, saying that he wanted to kill Klaus before getting his family back and Klaus daggered him before Elijah had the chance to kill him.

After taking a brief break from our activities during this morning, we decided to take our leave and pay Gloria a visit to have her locate Rebekah's necklace, which is where we are now.

"Why is it taking so long?" I ask Gloria as I sit next to Rebekah on the bar while Klaus sits on a stool with his feet propped up on the bar with a drink in his hand.

Gloria gives me a glare from where she sits in front of a table filled with candles and other witchy stuff. "I don't think I need to hear anything from you," she tells me and I huff in annoyance. And I can only think, _Bitch._

"Why is it taking so long?" Rebekah asks her with a grin and Gloria sighs, knowing it's not wise to upset an Original while I manage to contain the chuckle that wants to escape me.

Gloria turns back to her book and closes her eyes in concentration as I share a grin with Rebekah while Klaus ignores the whole exchange.

The three of us look up at the feeling of another presence nearby, only to find Stefan walking into Gloria's bar, nodding at us in greeting.

"You left us," Rebekah tells Stefan as she pouts playfully and I grin at Rebekah's attraction to Stefan that he clearly doesn't return.

"Yeah, sorry. Retail therapy was making my head explode," Stefan says as he makes his way closer to us.

"Tell me about it," I say, earning a playful glare from Klaus as Rebekah and I shrug at him while wearing our most innocent looks.

Stefan eyes Gloria as he stands behind her with a frown before asking, "What's she doing?"

"She's failing," says Klaus as he glares at Gloria. _Obviously, _I think.

"It's hard to find something without anything to go on," says Gloria as she glances at Klaus from the corners of her eyes.

"So use me," Rebekah says as she hops down the bar. "I only wore it for a thousand years," she says as she makes her over to Gloria.

"See? Now this one offers a solution. All right," Gloria says as Rebekah sits on the opposite end of the table, "give me your hand, sweetheart." Rebekah gives Gloria her right hand, which the witch engulfs with both of hers as Stefan comes to stand next to me as we all look at Gloria.

"She's, uh…She's looking for the necklace, huh?" asks Stefan and I eye him while wearing a frown since his tone made me curious of whatever he knew about Rebekah's necklace. _What does he know?_ I ask myself, wanting to know what in the world was Stefan hiding.

"I can sense something," Gloria says as Klaus stands up while I hop down from the bar to stand closer to Gloria with Stefan next to us since all of our attention is fully on her.

She begins to murmur strange words, which means she's doing an incantation. I eye Stefan as he seems to be quite tense while staring at Gloria, which causes me to become suspicious of him. Now this I cannot just ignore.

Gloria releases Rebekah's hands with a sigh before turning to Klaus. "I found it."

"So where is it?" Rebekah asks Gloria, pleased to have found her necklace.

"It doesn't work like that, doll," says Gloria and I roll my eyes at her. "I get images. There's a girl with her friends."

"Yes, a dead girl with dead friends, if I don't get my necklace back," says Rebekah, getting angry now.

"Well, I have to dive back in and get the details," says Gloria.

"So dive," Klaus says as he approaches Gloria.

"I need more time," says Gloria as Klaus places his hands on the table where Gloria is and leans closer to her. "And space. You're harshing my juju."

I frown at Gloria's flash of nervousness as I stand next to Klaus and say, "We have time."

"We can wait," Klaus adds to my words.

"I'm sure you can, but that's not what I asked," Gloria says as she meets Klaus' determined eyes with her own, causing tension while I'd prefer if we have eyes on her while she acquires the 'details'.

"Hey," Stefan says as he places a hand on Klaus' shoulder. "Hey, you know, why don't we just come back later," he says as Rebekah and I share a look, for she seems to know that something's off about the witch and the vampire. "I'm hungry anyway. I'll let you pick who we eat."

Stefan begins to make his way out of the bar as Klaus, Rebekah and I share a look before hesitantly following him out, giving Gloria the space that she asked for.

"I'll catch up with guys later," I say as we step outside of Gloria's bar and receive frowns from each of them. There are a lot of reasons that I need to leave and they all have to do with two people.

"You're leaving us as well?" Rebekah asks me with a pout and I smile at her.

"I just want to visit my witchy friend while you guys dine. I don't need to see that," I tell them and they nod in understanding. _I really don't need to see that, _I think.

"Well, see you soon," says Rebekah and I nod at her.

Rebekah and Stefan begin to walk away as Klaus approaches me. "Ask your little friend about what Gloria's up to."

"Already ahead of you," I whisper and nod at him before turning around and making my way towards my destination a fair blocks away from Gloria's bar, going unnoticed by the humans around me.

* * *

I go up the steps that lead into a small antique shop made of dark walls and I push open the door, causing the bell on the top to ring, announcing my arrival as I look around the display tables filled with many antiques from small crystals to big statues.

It has two halls with displays of antiques and two doors. One door leads to the office of the store while the other leads to the kitchen and has stairs that lead to the second floor where the living room and bedroom are.

I look around and approach the counter where you pay for your item, which is not being attended at the moment, causing me to frown as I make sure I didn't miss anyone around the store, but I'm alone.

"Gael?" I ask as I wait for the door, which leads to the back of the store, to open as I lean forward on my arms against the counter. "It's Gwen!"

The door swings open to reveal a young woman in her early twenties, who has light skin, wavy auburn hair that falls to her lower back with a light dusting of freckles and piercing blue eyes. _Gael_.

I smile at her, seeing that she's wearing a white maxi dress that reaches down to her ankles with a deep red cardigan over it and brown sandals. She gives me a smile and walks around the counter to give me a hug.

"It's good to see you," says Gael as she laughs out loud, which causes me to laugh.

"Calm down, Gael," I say while chuckling. I know that this laugh is the one that represents her small disability, which I believe that there is none, but I know that it is because of her intense joy when seeing me.

"Sorry," she says as she releases me.

"No need for that. So, how are things?" I ask and I see the blush creeping into her cheeks, which causes me to grin at her. "Why are you blushing?"

"I met a boy," she says with a smile and I smile at her.

"Really? Who is he?" I ask as we grab each other's elbows in excitement.

"He's human and very kind to me. He has this golden hair that makes me want to run my hands through it and the most beautiful green eyes. He is so dreamy!" she says as she hops in excitement.

"Does he know?" I ask, referring to her supposed disability.

She nods with a smile. "He knows and he comes from time to time to keep me company and he's like you, he doesn't treat me like some freak or something and I like him even more for that. I have butterflies in my stomach just thinking about him," she says, rushing her words and I manage to catch them while smiling at her, thankful that she's my height and not towering over me, which would've meant that her excitement would've crushed me.

Gael and I met four years ago when Klaus and I went to meet with Gloria. Even though Gael is a witch, she doesn't express the same disdain that Gloria has towards me, she greeted me with a warm smile that I returned. Her supposed disability was caused by the death of her mother, who died in a horrible fire in their home when she was small before she moved here with her grandmother, who passed from old age before I met Gael.

Gael doesn't treat me any different than any other person and neither do I treat her like some freak of nature like many people do and view her. We treat each other as if we're human beings, which we're obviously not.

"That's great, Gael. I'm so happy for you," I say and give her a hug that she quickly returns. I pull back and grin at her. "So what's his name?"

"Dylan Emerson," she says with a blush, which causes me to chuckle. _She blushes so easily, it's cute, _I think.

"He sounds handsome," I say.

"He is," she says and she laughs out loud.

"Well, I would like to hear the whole story, but I have business to take care of that involves Mouse and I need you to help me," I say her, keeping the details to myself and she nods enthusiastically.

Gael has never expressed any dislike towards Klaus, for witches normally do, but she regards him as a mix of nature and doesn't fault him for whom or what he is. On the contrary, she's eager to help him, but she's eager to help anyone who needs or deserves it.

Gael may look fragile and kind, but she can have an explosive temper when she wants to, which I have only witnessed once and it resulted in a very dead vampire with its ashes the only remainder of him on the floor of her store. That is not a happy memory for anyone.

"Of course," she says as she grabs my hand and leads me to the back of the store where she has a desk with papers thrown around it and books around the room with a window behind the desk that has a view of her backyard. "What do you need?"

"It's quite simple," I say as she stands on the chair behind the desk while I seat on one of the two chairs in front of the desk. "What if I told you that I need you to locate a small object, like a necklace, that could be anywhere around the world, like in the possession of a girl? How long would it take to get specific details about it?"

She frowns as she becomes lost in her mind and I patiently wait for her to come back from her lapse and she does with a small shake of her head. "Not long, just a couple of minutes with the right spell. You'll have the identity of the girl and the location, if you want," she says and I nod.

So, Gloria seems to know something that she clearly doesn't want us to see. Gael may be stronger than Gloria and can perform much more complex spells that she makes them look easy, but that doesn't mean that Gloria is far behind.

"Thank you, Gael," I say.

"Anything else?" she asks and I nod as I lean forward.

"I need you to be careful from now on. I'm gonna be with Klaus to finish some things that are going to take time and I don't know who we might meet along the way, so don't call me unless it is absolutely necessary. I'll call you whenever I can and don't worry, I'll come back. I need to meet this Dylan," I tell her with a grin that she returns.

"Okay, but be careful and call as much as you can," she says and I nod at her with a smile before we both stand up.

We both share a long and tight hug before I pull back to share smiles with one another before I take my leave. Once outside, I take my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and dial Rebekah's phone number, deciding to deal with another concern. _It's time I get to the bottom of this, _I think.

It rings three times before I hear Rebekah's voice say, "_Hello?_"

"Hello, Bex," I greet as I begin to walk. "You're managing the phone very well."

"_Are you done with your witchy friend, I'm quite bored?_" she asks and I chuckle, knowing that Klaus and Stefan must be ignoring her.

"Are you alone?" I ask because the last thing I need is for Klaus to have a fit with no reason.

"_Yes, why?_" she asks, sounding intrigued by whatever I might offer her for entertainment.

"I need you to help me to catch a few rats," I say.

* * *

I stand in front of a coffin, staring at it with my arms crossed over my chest after having met up with Rebekah in the warehouse. Now we're waiting to set our plan in motion as Rebekah stands a few feet away with her eyes closed in concentration, on the lookout for our victim, whom we know will be appearing here.

I had already sent Klaus a text message, telling him to seek Gloria to further question her after telling him what Gael told me about the locating spell, which Gloria lied about. His visit to Gloria gives me and Rebekah enough time to turn over the other liar before he comes to us in a fit.

"He's here," she says with her eyes open and I nod at her before she blurs away while I disappear from her sight and appear, hiding behind the boxes in a pallet rack and watching from the shadows of the warehouse.

I hear the door to the warehouse open and close, emitting a small echo before I hear footsteps. The footsteps stop after some time and I concentrate on my hearing, thankful that I'm close enough to hear what's going on.

"You're back. Finally," I hear Rebekah say and Stefan hums. "Nik went to check on the witch. Dreary, isn't it?" I hear the click of Rebekah's heels as she walks. "Family cargo."

"Why don't you un-dagger them?" I hear Stefan ask Rebekah in reference to the coffins as she stops walking.

"Because he would hunt me down and kill me," Rebekah says, referring to Klaus and I hear Stefan hums in understanding. "He's a vindictive little bastard, my brother."

"But you still care about him, and so does Gwen," says Stefan. "Why?"

"Well, I hated him for a long time," says Rebekah as I hear her walk for moment before she stops. "It was exhausting. Gwen must've realized it before I did and decided to simply stand by him, for fighting him is useless." _You're half-right and half-wrong, Bex, _I think.

Klaus may be vindictive, aggressive, and cruel and every other word others use to describe him in the negative way that he shows to others while I got a look at the other part of him that he thought he managed to get rid of, but that is not true.

He is a man that is easily misunderstood and I managed to understand him, knowing the many things that he still keeps from me. At the end of the day, we're friends that have managed to understand one another because we trust each other.

"You know, when I met you two, you were both on the run," says Stefan, proving my point that he is quite the nosy detective.

"Also exhausting," says Rebekah.

"Who were you running from?" asks Stefan and I contain the scoff that wants to escape him. I knew he was off and I bet he's hiding many other things that may cost him his life.

_I'm actually quite impressed with him, though_, I think. _It's like playing with fire and Stefan will be burned. _Not many dare to try and worm their way into an Original's life to find out about their secrets, especially about someone who is after them.

"What do you mean?" asks Rebekah, probably wearing a frown right now.

"Last time I saw you, there was a man looking for you. You both seemed afraid," says Stefan. "I just…I wouldn't think Klaus would be afraid of anybody."

I stand where I can peek at them while still hiding behind the corner of the pallet rack, seeing Stefan's back as he sat next to Rebekah on one of the coffins. I'm only grateful that I'm imperceptible.

"No one in this world is truly fearless, Stefan," says Rebekah as she faces Stefan with a small smile. "Not even Niklaus."

"Who was that man?" asks Stefan.

"I can't. Please," Rebekah says as she stands up. "If Nik knew we were talking about this, he…"

"No, no, no. I'm sorry. Just…" Stefan begins as he stands up to face Rebekah, "forget I asked. Okay?"

"Nik told me about the girl you loved this morning," Rebekah says and I recall Klaus telling me and Rebekah about the doppelgänger and her friends, "the one that died. He also told me that you're only with him because he saved your brother."

Stefan nods before saying, "That's true."

"I think he secretly admires that about you," says Rebekah, "that you would sacrifice anything for family. Don't tell him I told you that."

"Your secret is safe with me," Stefan tells her as he turns to leave, but Rebekah pulls him back into a heated kiss, to which I look away. _Very bold, _I think as I look down at y boots.

I look back over to them to see Stefan cupping Rebekah's neck in a soft hold. "Do you think you'll love anyone like you loved that girl?" she asks him and I sigh.

"One day. Maybe," says Stefan. _Liar._

Rebekah smiles at him as she strokes the side of his face affectionately. "I can always tell when you're lying, Stefan," says Rebekah and I sigh, not sure if in relief or anger since Klaus will be the most furious of all; I feel relieved that we caught him before he could find out about anything and angry that he betrayed us.

Stefan frowns at Rebekah before saying, "What? I'm not…"

"Don't bother. Your kiss already gave you away," Rebekah says and I appear beside Rebekah with my arms crossed over my chest, glaring at Stefan as the door to the warehouse opens and closes.

"Here's the little rat," I say as I glare at Stefan as Klaus approaches us.

"Gloria's gone, she has cleared out. We'll have to go to your witch, Gwen," Klaus says as he comes to a stop in front of us while I stand between Stefan and Rebekah. "What's going on?"

"Something's wrong," I say as I motion to Stefan with my head.

"He was asking about Mikael," Rebekah says as Stefan's jaw clenches while Klaus eyes him warily. "He's not with us, Nik. I can sense it."

"I can too," I say.

"They're wrong," Stefan says as he turns to Klaus and I roll my eyes at him. "Klaus." Rebekah and I watch as Klaus breaks Stefan's neck in fury before looking at us.

"He's hiding something else, Nik," I say. "I bet Gloria's disappearance has something to do with his secrets," I add and Klaus nods in agreement.

"It has something to do with his old life or he wouldn't be so bloody clingy to something from his humanity," says Rebekah as Klaus seems to ponder something over.

"What is it, Nik?" I ask as Rebekah and I look at him.

"Pack your bags, girls," he tells us as he looks at us with a grin. "We're going on a little trip."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please, review and see ya later!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay, I'm planning on posting at least one chapter every day, but these past few were busy. Now, I want to thank ****the first reviews this story had and i hope i keep doing a good work. Well, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

A trip should be fun, right? The mere mention of going on a trip is _supposed_ to be _fun_, but I find myself thinking that it's really not. I even have Rebekah to agree with me, also a victim of being present in this trip that is no fun at all! And she would want to go on a trip after being locked up in a box for almost a century, but that is not the case.

Klaus said that we were leaving because he knew the place where he could get the answers to his many questions surrounding Stefan and other things. He had the coffins packed up in a truck, told me and Rebekah to pack a small bag of essentials for the trip and practically dragged us to the car, making sure to tell him to have someone looking after my apartment or something.

Klaus had kept breaking Stefan's neck every time the latter woke up or even stirred, not giving him time to fully return to consciousness while Rebekah and I rolled our eyes at him every time he did this because he could have just simply compelled him to be still or revealed whatever he was hiding, but Klaus prefers to make things interesting.

We literally spent the whole trip in his black car, stopping after Rebekah and I managed to irritate Klaus into getting Rebekah some food, which turned out to be fast food and she was not happy. This went on for a day and a half, until we finally arrived to our destination: Mystic Falls.

While Klaus went around the town investigating, Rebekah and I explored their original on our own. Well, we did more shopping than exploring and finally having dinner in an actual restaurant because she was starving.

Once we returned to where the cars were parked, satisfied with the results of our outing, Klaus approached us with his plan to get the answers he seeks, tonight being the perfect night for him to do so because many students were doing pranks before the start of the school year and Elena's friends will be there.

Rebekah and I agreed without protest as he told us his plan, but we're starting to regret it since we're quite bored at the moment within the truck on the parking lot of the town's high school. We stand on the edge of the back of the truck where the coffins are with Stefan sprawled out on the floor, neck broken by Klaus.

"This is actually getting depressing," I say as I huff in boredom.

I now wear the usual attire—the clothes I died in—without any alteration, which is a white tank top with a cream, draped, open-front cardigan with long sleeves over it and light gray, cropped leggings. To finish off, I wear cream, cardy ugg boots. I had entered in an argument with Rebekah over my necklace as she claimed that I didn't have to always wear it, but I always wear it, regardless of what I wear since I couldn't take it off and I didn't want to.

I don't know if it's me or if the necklace has some type of magic, but I never feel comfortable without it. It gives me some feeling that I'm still here, that I'm alive or something close to being alive. Rebekah understood my explanation and dropped the subject, saying that it matches with most of the things I wear.

"I know. I thought we'd be having more fun," says Rebekah as she leans on the inside of the back of the truck when we hear Stefan groaning behind us.

"Look who woke up," I say with a smile as Stefan sits up in a start when he lays eyes on me and Rebekah while we eye him.

"What happened?" he asks as Rebekah and I cross our arms over our chests, staring down on Stefan.

"You took a beating," I say.

"My brother's been breaking your neck. Quite the temper," says Rebekah. _And then some, _I think.

"What about your temper?" I ask her and we grin at one another.

"Why did he bring us to Mystic Falls?" asks Stefan as he stands up slowly, probably in a daze after his neck has been broken over and over again throughout the journey from Chicago to here.

"You can stop playing dumb now," Rebekah tells him as she stares at him with a blank expression. "It didn't take him long to figure out what you've been hiding."

Stefan manages to stand up straight before saying, "I'm not hiding anything. I've done everything Klaus has asked me to."

"No, you just failed to mention that the doppelgänger's still alive," I say while narrowing my eyes at him.

Stefan freezes at my words and nods, appearing like he doesn't care as he turns his back to us. "Where is Klaus now?"

"With any luck, ripping that cow's bloody head off," says Rebekah and, after just few seconds, Stefan blurs to Rebekah and tackles her on the ground outside the truck, pinning her down as I watch them.

"Where is she?" asks Stefan with a growl as I hop down from the truck.

"You really do love her, don't you?" Rebekah asks him before pushing back against the truck and grabbing a crowbar from the vehicle, using the handle to pull Stefan's head closer to her. "Consider me jealous."

"Don't waste your breath, Bex," I say as she grins at me before stabbing Stefan in the stomach with the crowbar, eliciting a yell from him before dropping dead on the ground.

I may be a hopeless fool who believes in love and I admire Stefan for going to such great lengths for the girl that he loves, but Klaus is my family and no one betrays him. Besides, Rebekah is now the female friend-sister—Gael being my close friend—that I have always wanted and Stefan betrayed her as well, making him an enemy.

"Now, what?" I ask as Rebekah releases a heavy sigh before straightening up and facing me with a smile.

"Let's fetch Nik's mutt," she says as I grin at her and she runs inside the school in her supernatural speed while I follow through my disappearing and reappearing, knowing that Stefan won't leave and will try to save the Petrova girl that's supposed to be dead.

* * *

"You found the werewolf?" I ask Rebekah as we walk along a hallway with the lockers to the walls on our sides with doors to classrooms between them while looking around the place. _I sure don't miss school, _I think.

"I think I have," she says as she leads the way, rounding a corner and we find a blonde girl pressed against the wall behind her and kissing a dark-haired boy with tan skin, "with his vampire girlfriend."

I raise an eyebrow at them before turning to Rebekah and she shrugs before we walk over to them and Rebekah says, "You two are adorable." They both stop kissing and turn to look at me and Rebekah with confused looks as we approach them with frowns.

"Uh, do we know you?" asks Caroline.

"You're Caroline, Elena's friend. Which makes you Tyler," Rebekah says as she turns to Tyler, "the werewolf."

"And who are you?" Caroline asks with a bit of too much attitude as she stands in front of us, ready to defend Tyler.

"We're the new girls," I say. "You take the vampire girl."

"You take the mutt," says Rebekah.

Rebekah hisses as her vampire features appear and launches herself at Caroline, breaking her neck. Her body falls limp on the floor as Tyler stares at his semi-dead girlfriend with wide eyes.

"Caroline!" Tyler yells as he goes to aid his girlfriend but I appear in front of him, causing him to stop and I focus all of my energy to push him into the lockers through my powers, leaving a small dent where he hit the lockers before he falls on the floor, groaning in pain while I shake my head from the dizzy spell from forcing too much power into my abilities like I just did.

"Fantastic," I hear Rebekah say from behind me as I make sure Tyler isn't going to stand back up.

"Thank you," I say. I turn to Rebekah and we smile at one another before I motion at Tyler with my head. "Let's take him to Nik."

Rebekah nods and grabs Tyler by his neck, making him stand up on his feet and I begin to lead the way as I look around in search of where Nik is while I hear Tyler struggle under Rebekah's hold behind me. I take a deep breath and concentrate on Nik's presence, letting my own body guide me through the hallways.

I lead us to double doors and pull them open, allowing Rebekah to enter with a struggling Tyler before making sure I make myself visible to any human that may be present. I take notice of the couple sitting on the floor with tears in their eyes, a blond boy next to a dark-skinned girl, whom I presume is Bonnie, a brunette girl, making her the Petrova girl and Klaus with a grin ever present on his features.

"Fetched you what you needed," I say as Rebekah and I approach Klaus as everyone else looks to me and Rebekah with frowns on their faces.

"Ugh, get off of me," Tyler says as he tries to break free from Rebekah's hold, which is impossible at the moment.

"Hush now," says Rebekah and I see her tightening her grip, causing Tyler to stop his squirming.

"I'd like you all to meet my sister, Rebekah, and my dear friend, Gwen," Klaus says as he motions to me and Rebekah while I see the brunette frowning at me and Rebekah. "A word of warning, they can be quite mean."

"Hey!" I say as I glare at him with Rebekah.

"Don't be an ass," Rebekah says before pushing Tyler into Klaus' hold.

"Leave him alone," Elena, the Petrova girl, says, trying to sound commanding, but it came out weak. _It's absolutely ridicules to tell Klaus to not do something he is determined to do,_ I think.

"I'm gonna make this very simple," Klaus says as he pulls Tyler by his neck in front of everyone, making sure they're watching him. "Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible, actually."

Klaus bites into his wrist and I scrunch up my nose at that before he forces Tyler to drink his blood that is pouring out from his wrist, causing the young werewolf to grunt in the hybrid's iron grip as he tries to get away from Klaus' wrist, which is futile.

"I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie," he says as he looks at the witch while Rebekah and I share a look, knowing what's going to happen next. "And for Tyler's sake, you'd better hurry," he says and breaks Tyler's neck, causing everyone to gasp and me to flinch while Rebekah rolls her eyes at Klaus.

I have seen Klaus kill before. He practically drank the blood of the inhabitants of a whole bar before burning the whole place down to the ground. The first few times I was raging mad, yelling at him that it wasn't right, but, after so many times, I knew I couldn't change him.

It came with the experience of being in the presence of other vampires, causing me to realize that, no matter if they're doing right or wrong, they will always have to kill and I can't fault them for being something that most did not even want; Klaus being one of them.

"Well, this is boring," I say as I make my way towards the bleachers with Rebekah and Klaus in tow.

"No better words have been spoken," says Rebekah as we sit on the bleachers, watching the group of students mourn for their dead friend.

"You're not mad?" Klaus asks me, knowing that he killed someone in front of me, but I merely shrug at him.

"I should be used to this and I am, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it," I tell him and he gives me an apologetic smile that I return with a small one as we hear the human girl on the floor sobbing.

"If you don't like it when he kills, then why are you with us?" Rebekah asks me from the step behind me and I smile at her.

"I care for those who I am loyal to and I am loyal to those who have never wronged me in any way," I say. "I know this may sound cheesy, but Nik is the only family I have and now I have you, right?"

Rebekah smiles at me and nods. "Good."

"He killed him," I hear the blonde-haired human say, straining my ears to hear them as the three of us turn to look at them while they continue to stare at Tyler's body in shock.

"He's not dead. Klaus' blood will turn him into a vampire," Elena says as she paces slowly, trying to remain calm.

"And if Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition," Klaus says as he stands up and approaches the group of mortals with me and Rebekah following him. "Go on, then. Go fetch your Grimoires and enchantments and whatnot," he says as he grabs Elena by her arm, causing her to glance at him warily with me and Rebekah next to her. "I'll hold on to Elena for safekeeping."

I see Bonnie shaking her head at Elena, either not wanting to help Klaus in any way or not wanting to leave her friend with Klaus, but Elena nods at her to go. The witch turns and the blonde-haired boy grabs her hand before running out the door, leaving us with Elena and the two humans that are visibly shaking out of fear.

"So this is the latest doppelgänger," Rebekah says into Elena's ear before stepping back to look at her up and down. "The original one was much prettier."

Elena gives Rebekah a disbelieving look as I smirk at Rebekah's remark. The Petrova girl clearly has an appealing appearance, but she makes herself look dull with her straight her and boring clothes.

"She could use a change of wardrobe," I say and Rebekah grins at me as Elena frowns at me.

"Who are you?" Elena asks me and I shrug.

"I'm just your friendly neighborhood ghost," I say with a smile, to which she frowns at me.

"Enough, both of you," Klaus says to me and Rebekah. "Take the wolf-boy elsewhere, would you?"

I smile at Klaus mockingly as Rebekah does the same to Elena before she grabs Tyler by his wrist and begins to drag him away while I follow behind her.

* * *

Rebekah and I sit on the floor with our backs against some lockers after she left Tyler a few feet away from the still unconscious Caroline and goes through Caroline's phone, managing to figure out how it works without my help.

"This is just stupid," I say as I let my head lean back on the lockers.

"I know," says Rebekah. "There are much easier and fun ways to find out what Nik wants, but he just wants to do it the hard way." We hear groaning and see that Caroline is stirring awake as she rolls on her back while holding her neck. "We didn't have mobile telephones in my day. Would have made life a whole lot easier, I suppose," Rebekah says as she leans closer to me and we smile as she takes a picture of the both of us with Caroline's phone.

"I can imagine," I say as she smiles at me.

"Where's Tyler?" asks Caroline.

"He's dead…" says Rebekah and I can see Caroline's body freeze on the floor.

"Ish," I add to Rebekah's statement as Caroline rolls over to face Tyler's back before sitting up and looking down at him, placing her hands on his body.

"What did you do?" Caroline asks us.

"Think of it as, he's having a nap," Rebekah says as she goes through Caroline's phone. "When he wakes up, he'll be a hybrid."

Caroline gives us a wide-eyed look before turning back to Tyler and confirming that he is really dead by hearing for a heartbeat since she must be thinking we're lying to her while Rebekah goes through Caroline's photos.

Rebekah's face turns into one of disgust when she comes upon a picture of Stefan holding Elena to his side. "Ugh, vomit."

"He's not worth it, Bex," I say. "He looks too whipped by the Petrova girl, which is a bit demeaning." Rebekah merely shrugs at me as her eyebrows furrow in confusion the longer she looks at the picture and I ask, "What is it?"

She taps the screen of the phone to zoom in on Elena, concentrating on what's around the Petrova girl's neck. "Is that my necklace?"

"What?" I ask, becoming confused with whatever she means before she stands up and walks over to Caroline as I follow behind her.

"Why is that doppelgänger bitch wearing my necklace?" Rebekah furiously demands from Caroline.

"Uh-oh," I say.

* * *

I follow a very furious Rebekah back into the school's gym where Stefan has just finished drinking dry the humans that had been sobbing on the floor earlier while Klaus stands next to a horrified Elena.

"Where is it?" Rebekah asks as we approach Klaus and Elena while Stefan stares at us with his mouth and chin covered in blood. "Where's my necklace?"

"What are you talking about?" Klaus asks as he turns to me and Rebekah.

"She has Rebekah's necklace or had, I don't know," I say since Elena isn't wearing the necklace at the moment as Rebekah gives Klaus Caroline's phone with the picture of Stefan and Elena where she is wearing the necklace.

Klaus looks closer at the picture before sighing. "Well, well. More lies," he says as he looks at Stefan.

"Where is it?" Rebekah asks Elena while glowering at her.

"I don't have it anymore," says Elena.

"You're lying!" Rebekah says before releasing a growl and lunging at Elena, biting into the girl's neck.

"Rebekah!" I say, knowing that we still don't have an answer for Klaus' failing attempts at making hybrids and we still needed the Petrova girl to get the answers.

Klaus pulls Rebekah from Elena and the latter falls on the floor while holding her bitten neck. "Knock it off!"

"Make her tell me where it is, Nik," Rebekah says and Klaus crouches down in front of a whimpering Elena while I stand next to Rebekah.

"Where's the necklace, sweetheart?" Klaus asks. "Be honest."

"I'm telling the truth," says Elena. "Katherine stole it."

"The other doppelgänger bitch?" I ask.

"Katerina," Klaus says, confirming my question. "Of course," he says as he stands up. "Well, that's unfortunate. If we had the necklace, it'd make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?"

"Well, at least we're getting a small amount of answers," I say as Klaus makes his way over to a table and pushes a button, turning on the timer of the gym that marks the time of a game, eliciting a loud buzzing sound from the timer as it shows twenty minutes on the clock.

"Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then," Klaus says as he makes his way over to Stefan, "I want you to feed again. Only this time…" he says as he approaches Stefan, ready to compel him, "**I want you to feed on Elena.** You know you want to."

"Klaus. Don't do this to him," Elena says from her spot on the floor as Klaus approaches me and Rebekah.

"No one leaves," Klaus tells me and Rebekah before pointing at Elena with his finger, "If she tries to run, fracture her spine." Rebekah and I follow Klaus out of the gym, going our separate ways as Rebekah and I go to check on Tyler and Caroline.

"Things just got interesting," Rebekah says and I nod.

* * *

Rebekah and I found Caroline and Tyler in a classroom, which, by the looks of it, must be the lab class or something and Tyler is lying on one of the tables as Rebekah and I sit on the one next to his while Caroline stands next to Tyler with a worried expression.

"This is depressing," I say as Rebekah looks at a timer, possibly the time that Elena has before Stefan drinks from her and I could see that Klaus has reached the limits of his patience.

"I know, right," Rebekah says just as Tyler wakes up, gasping for air before going into a coughing fit while Caroline fusses over him.

"Where am I?" Tyler asks as he looks around in panic. "What happened?"

"Tyler," Caroline begins, but, by the look of her face, she really doesn't want to tell Tyler what's happening right now.

"Don't be shy about it," Rebekah says to Caroline, gaining the attention of the couple.

"What's going on?" asks Tyler.

"Klaus is turning you into a vampire, a hybrid. You're in transition," Caroline says to Tyler and the latter widens his eyes at her in shock.

"You're forgetting the other part," I say to Caroline and she gives me a glare as Tyler turns to me and Rebekah while still lying on the table.

"You'll only survive if your witch is successful. If not, you're pretty much dead," Rebekah says.

"You're gonna be okay. Okay?" Caroline says to Tyler as she strokes the side of his head. "It's gonna be okay."

"I wonder how she's doing," Rebekah says as she looks at the timer on Caroline's phone. "Tick-tock goes the gym clock."

"I'm gonna tell Nik that he's awake, at least do something around here," I say to Rebekah as I hop down from the table. "You can handle them, right?"

Rebekah tilts her head in annoyance towards me as I smile at her. "I'll manage."

"Okay," I say before leaving the classroom in search of Klaus.

I walk around aimlessly for a minute as I look for Klaus without much result. _He must be bordering the gym, making sure that they don't escape, _I think as I begin to make my way towards the gym.

I finally see him walking towards me with a troubling look. "Nik?" He looks up and sighs as he comes to a stop in front of me while I do the same. "What happened?"

"Bonnie and the human that was with her managed to get some answers," Klaus says and I frown.

"What were they?" I ask.

"I can't make hybrids because the doppelgänger is still breathing," he says and I nod while frowning.

"From whom did they get this answer?" I ask.

"From the Original witch herself," he says as he looks to the side while I frown. _Why on earth would the Original witch help the person she placed a curse on? _I ask myself. "It seems that the doppelgänger has chosen to run," he says as he begins to walk and I follow him.

"Time's up, then," I say as I walk beside him. "She actually has guts since you threatened to break her spine."

We round the corner just as Elena enters the hallway through some double doors and she looks through the window on it, probably Stefan chasing after her. Klaus stands behind her as I stand behind him while Elena doesn't seem to have noticed us.

Elena turns around and bumps into Klaus. "We gotta stop meeting like this," he tells her as he grabs her arm while I ponder about the Original witch.

Klaus begins to walk while keeping a grip on Elena's arm and I follow behind him. He opens a door that leads into the cafeteria and we enter to find Stefan stabbing himself with a makeshift stake in the stomach, causing me stare at him in shock. _He really does love this girl, _I think as I stand next to Klaus.

"Now this is fascinating. I've never seen this before," Klaus says as we stand a few feet in front of a sweating Stefan, trying to resist compulsion. "The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl. Why don't you turn it off?"

"You think that's a good idea?" I ask Klaus.

"No," Stefan says to Klaus, keeping his makeshift stake in his stomach while I stand next to Elena, making sure she doesn't try anything.

"Come on," Klaus says as he sits on one of the tables in the cafeteria. "Your humanity is killing you. All the guilt must be exhausting. Turn it off."

"No," Stefan says in a hoarse voice from resisting Klaus' compulsion while I sigh, knowing that this isn't right, but there's no way to reason with Klaus now.

"Stefan," Elena says, worried for the vampire that is in love with her.

"You're strong," Klaus says as he stands up and approaches Stefan, "but you're not that strong." He removes the stake from Stefan's stomach and throws it away while I keep my lips in a tight line. "Turn…it…off."

I'm amazed with both of them. I'm amazed at the lengths that Stefan seems to be willing to go to keep Elena safe and alive, he might be even willing to die for this girl, the one he seems to be deeply in love with while Klaus has gone far from his usual ways to give Stefan the benefit to do things himself, not resorting to quickly turn Stefan's emotions off himself, but his patience has been pushed over the edge and I can see it.

"No!" Stefan yells as he pushes Klaus away, causing my eyes to widen.

"Oh, crap," I whisper. _This is over, _I think.

In the blink of an eye, Klaus has Stefan pushed up against a wall before yelling, "**Turn it off!**" I grab Elena's arm, stopping her from further approaching Klaus and Stefan as the former's compulsion seems to be taking effect.

"Let me go," Elena tells me but I tighten my grip on her, stopping her struggling.

"Trust me, it is better if you don't get close," I tell her as she frowns at me before turning to look over at Klaus and Stefan as the latter seems to be succumbing to the compulsion.

"What did you do?" Elena asks Klaus and the latter turns to us and I release Elena since she seems to be rooted on the spot.

"I fixed him," Klaus answers and I sigh, feeling sorry for Stefan. "But I think a test is in order, don't you?" he asks as he comes to stand behind Elena while I stand to the side.

I take a deep breath, calming myself from what is about to happen, knowing that this is wrong, but, in a way, it could have been prevented. I shake my head and rid myself of the thought of wishing the doppelgänger to be dead since it is a horrible thing to wish on anyone.

"Ripper," Klaus says as he grabs Elena by her shoulders from behind her and I purse my lips, knowing that the Petrova girl isn't going to live past this night. "Perhaps you'd like a drink from the doppelgänger's neck," he says as he moves Elena's hair from her neck before joining me while I frown.

"She's still breathing," I mumble to myself as Klaus comes to stand next to me.

"It's best if you leave now, Cat. It will get messy," Klaus tells me as I continue to frown while Stefan's vampire features are exposed when he stares at Elena. "Cat?"

"Stop him, Nik," I say as I realize something.

"I understand your feelings of humanity, but you know who I am," says Klaus. "We've had this discussion."

I shake my head at him as I face him. "That's not it, it's about the hybrids."

"What is it?" he asks as I glance at Stefan, knowing that he is about to lunge at Elena at any moment before turning back to face Klaus.

"Why on earth would the Original witch, the one who put the curse on you, help you?" I ask him as he frowns at e with his arms crossed over his chest. "She knows that whatever she claims that will help you create hybrids you will do without hesitation, but why? She cursed you and became your enemy. Why would that change now?"

Klaus furrows his eyebrows at me, knowing that I have a point just as we hear Elena release a rather loud scream the moment that Stefan attacked her neck with his teeth.

"Stop him, Nik!" I tell him and he shakes his head before pushing Stefan away from Elena as she bleeds on the floor, apparently unconscious from the loss of blood, not sure if she's alive.

* * *

"Well, the verdict's in," Klaus says as I lead him into the classroom where Rebekah, Caroline and Tyler are in, seeing Tyler leaning over a table, probably in pain from the transition. "The Original witch says the doppelgänger _should_ be dead."

"Does that mean we can kill her?" Rebekah asks as Klaus approaches Tyler with a vial of Elena's blood he retrieved after healing her.

"No. It means quite the opposite," Klaus says as I stand next to him.

"What?" Rebekah asks with a frown as she pulls Caroline from Tyler and keeps her in a tight grip.

"Call it a hunch," Klaus says as he presents Tyler the vial of Elena's blood. "Elena's blood. Drink it."

"No. No, no, no, Tyler, don't," Caroline says as she struggles to get out of Rebekah's hold without much success.

"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway," I tell her as I cross my arms over my chest.

"Consider this an experiment," says Klaus as Tyler gives him a wary look. "It's okay." Tyler shakes his head and rids himself from hesitation as he grabs the vial of Elena's blood from Klaus' hand. "There we go."

"Think it'll work?" I ask as Tyler drinks Elena's blood, causing me to scrunch up my nose in disgust.

"Good boy," Klaus says and I roll my eyes at his endearments.

Tyler groans as he seems to want to throw up the blood and Klaus pulls me away from him as we all stare at Tyler falling on the floor, writhing in pain and throwing items on the floor.

"No!" Caroline screams as she continues to struggle in Rebekah's hold while Tyler yells in pain and blood drips from his mouth.

"Nik?" I ask as Klaus approaches Tyler, the latter grabbing his head before screaming, which causes me to stare at the werewolf warily.

Klaus crouches down in front of a writhing Tyler as I stand next to him, jumping back in surprise when Tyler looks up at Klaus suddenly, but he is now exhibiting the features of a hybrid. "Well, that's a good sign."

* * *

I find myself sitting next to Rebekah on the hood of a car while Klaus paces in front of us. Rebekah sits on the hood while I lean back and stare up at the starry night, remembering the events of this night and taking it all in.

Klaus had Elena be taken to the hospital, making sure she is well, but having the hospital take some of her blood so he can use it to create more hybrids. The hospital is where we find ourselves at the moment; well, the parking lot of the hospital.

I do feel sorry for everyone that got hurt tonight because of Klaus, but I cannot find myself feeling guilty or that I did something wrong since I was helping a friend that has become my family. Besides, these people had it coming when they thought they could fool Klaus and, even if they did, it wouldn't of had lasted long.

"So the doppelgänger isn't the problem, her blood is the solution, "Rebekah says as I sit up next to her and Klaus turns to us.

"Seems so," Klaus says as he stands on my side of the car to my right with Rebekah sitting next to me to my left.

"How did you know?" asks Rebekah.

"Well, Gwen opened my eyes to reason," Klaus says as he smiles at me and I nod, feeling quite proud at the moment.

"How?" asks Rebekah while wearing a frown.

"You know how much the Original witch hated me. Gwen figured that I would do whatever she said when it came to my hybrids, but we realized that she would not help the person she placed a curse on," says Klaus. "So we did the opposite."

Rebekah grins in realization as Klaus turns away from us. "A thousand years in the grave and she's still screwing with you."

"It makes sense if you think about it from her perspective," I say as Klaus turns to face us.

"Gwen's right. It was her failsafe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse," says Klaus. "The doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead…"

"Then you couldn't use her blood to sire yourself a new species," says Rebekah, finishing Klaus' explanation.

"Leaving me alone for all time," says Klaus, causing me and Rebekah to frown at him. _His hybrids aren't just for protection, they're so that he isn't the odd one out to be cast aside for being what he is, _I think.

"Is that what this is about, your obsession with hybrids?" Rebekah asks him, having caught on to my same thoughts. "You just don't want to be alone?"

"Is that it, Nik?" I ask him, knowing that with me and Rebekah he is most likely to either open up or close himself up and talk about it later after some prodding.

"What I want is to take my girl, take my hybrid, get the hell out of this one-pony town," Klaus says as he turns away from us while Rebekah and I share a knowing look. Klaus turns around to face us once more with his face bleak, not showing what he really must be feeling and I'm used to it. "Why don't you two, uh, get the truck? I'll get Elena."

Rebekah and I sigh before she slides down from the car and I follow behind her, passing Klaus and we make our way towards where the truck is; the one that is holding Klaus' coffins, which are occupied by the rest of his family members.

"He can be very grumpy when someone manages to figure him out," I say as Rebekah huffs.

"I lived with that for a thousand years, you're _just_ getting used to it," she tells me and I nod as we continue to walk.

"Well, at least, it's one step closer to un-daggering your family," I say and she rolls her eyes.

"He won't do it," she says and I frown at her. "Nik won't wake them up, he'll just look for a loophole in the promise he made you and postpone it."

"Well, whether he likes it or not, he'll have to or I'll just wake them up and I might get a tantrum from him, but it'll be worth it," I say and Rebekah stops walking, causing me to stop as we face one another and I can see the worry in her eyes.

"Don't do it," she says and I frown at her.

"What?" I ask.

"I don't want him to kill you," she says and I go to protest. "Give him the time he wants; just don't do something that might cause you to lose your life. You've become dear to me and I don't want to lose you. You're the only friend I have in this modern time, not that I ever had any."

I release a deep sigh as I ponder my options. I can try un-daggering the rest of Klaus' family, but he'll get mad at me and we'll get into another fight. Remembering the last fight we had, I do prefer not to end up on my own, waiting for him to apologize.

I can also do as Rebekah has asked of me, knowing that she is worried about me and she has also become my only other friend. I don't want to ignore her plea and she is right. I know that Klaus will never hurt me physically, but he can be cruel with his words when he wants to be and I don't want to get into a fight with him after accomplishing something.

"Fine," I say. "I won't do anything…yet. Besides, he can't and won't kill me, I'm already dead."

She smiles at me and I return her smile. "Good. Now, let's get that truck."

She begins to walk and I follow by her side, knowing that I'll have to do as Rebekah has said and let go of my want to un-dagger the rest of her family. _I'll just have to wait and be patient_, I think._ There will be another time._

* * *

**End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it and, like always, review! See ya later!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey, I decided to post this chapter today! Enjoy reading! Nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious. Hope you enjoy reading and thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

It has been some days after the whole ordeal in the Mystic Falls' school's gym and discovering how to make hybrids, only to find that Klaus left me and Rebekah behind in his hurry from getting out of town, which pissed me and Rebekah off pretty darn good. This was really not how I imagined things to play out, especially being ditched by Klaus.

I can't help the need to want to strangle him right now, which is only fair. He even managed to take a few blood bags of Elena's blood instead of getting me and Rebekah; that alone fueled our anger, along with telling Stefan to watch over Elena _in person_.

"I can't believe this," I say as I step out of the car that Rebekah bought—better yet, compelled—from a store, which is a pretty neat car and it's perfect for transportation.

I like it and Rebekah loves it, but we did get into an argument when it came down to who was going to drive. She was stubborn, but we came to an agreement that, for now, I'd drive and I'll give her lessons all week since she doesn't know how to drive. I'm just thankful that vampires are fast learners and have fast reflexes.

"I can't believe it either," says Rebekah. "He isn't even answering his phone."

Rebekah walks over to me as I open the door to the backseat of the car and we grab the few bags filled with Rebekah's things that we managed to find since most of them were on the car Klaus took in his hurry.

"He didn't even tell us what was wrong," I say through clenched teeth as I grab my purse and some of Rebekah's bags. "I am so gonna break his neck the next time I see him."

"I'll help," Rebekah says as she grabs her bags and I close the door to the car before we make our way towards the front door of a boarding house, one that Rebekah told me we were going to stay in for the time being.

"I still can't believe he ditched us," I say, truly mad at having been left behind by Klaus for a second time. _This better not be a habit, _I think as Rebekah knocks on the front door of whoever this house belongs to.

"Well, he'll have a lot to explain when we next see him," says Rebekah and I nod in agreement as the door is pulled open by Damon, causing me to frown at him.

"You," I say as he frowns at me as well.

"You," says Damon as Rebekah looks between me and Damon with a raised eyebrow.

"You know each other?" Rebekah asks me and I nod.

"Briefly," I say as I continue to eye Damon.

"I asked for her number," Damon says to Rebekah while grinning at me, causing me to roll my eyes at him. "I don't even know your name."

"Where's Stefan?" Rebekah asks Damon as she pushes Damon aside to walk into the house and I follow behind her.

"Neither of you have told me who the hell you are," Damon tells us as he closes the front door while Rebekah and I stand in front of the huge living room of the house, which is where Stefan seems to be having a rather bloody game of Twister with some giggling teenage girls—probably under compulsion—causing me to scrunch up my nose in disgust.

"He left us here," Rebekah says to Stefan. "My brother actually left us here."

"I'm sorry, your tone implies that I'm actually supposed to care," Stefan says, obviously rid of his humanity, which causes me to roll my eyes at him and Klaus' stupid decision to compel Stefan to turn off his emotions.

"You're Klaus' sister?" Damon asks from behind us, causing me and Rebekah to turn to him.

"Rebekah," says Rebekah, to which Damon turns to me, waiting for my name.

"Gwen Pierson. I'm supposed to be Klaus' best friend, but clearly I'm not since he left me behind, along with Rebekah," I say with a harsh tone, controlling my anger since I am very upset that Klaus left me and Rebekah behind without even coming to us in person or _something _with physical contact.

"Pleasure, I'm sure," Rebekah says, finishing our introductions before turning back to Stefan. "Which are our rooms?"

"You're not staying here," Stefan says, wearing a big smile that only a vampire wears when they're high in blood and without their emotions.

The lights of the house begin to dim and shine brightly, alternating from both as Stefan and Damon look around with frowns on their faces. My anger being the reason they're flickering. I take a deep breath and calm myself, causing the lights to remain off, which is how they were before my emotions got the best of me.

"Rude, much," I say and Rebekah nods in agreement after my little episode that leaves the brothers frowning at us.

"Let's see to it ourselves," Rebekah says and leads the way towards wherever our rooms might be and I follow behind her.

* * *

"How's Tyler?" I ask Rebekah after having settled in the room in front of Rebekah's as she makes quick work with her make-up while sitting cross-legged on the bed of her room, which is a fairly big room like mine.

"The baby hybrid's fine, I've been making sure he's full of blood and pretty darn happy by making it easy for him," she says as I smile before sitting next to her on the bed. "I hate the fact that the only thing Nik left behind was an order through a phone call, which is to watch over his delicate little hybrid and you haven't been contributing."

"I'm sorry, but I am not one to babysit, Bex," I say. "Besides, I have enough on my plate by keeping myself on my toes for the both of us."

It is true, I have been quite wary of everyone in this town, disliking how many supernatural beings there are and how many humans are aware of the supernatural. I know that they don't pose that much of a threat, but, living with Klaus for the past six years, I've learned to always be careful and be ready for anything.

She frowns and faces away from her compact mirror to look at me. "You really think they're a threat, Weny?"

"Well, it's just the two of us and I don't like the number of potential enemies in this town. We didn't make much of a positive impression when we threatened their lives upon our arrival," I say and she nods before turning back to her compact mirror.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" she asks and I huff.

"Bex, I already went to high school and it was hell," I say since I failed persuading her from not going to school, but she insisted that she needed to be well-versed with modern education since she missed out on many things and I couldn't bring myself to argue with her further.

"How so?" she asks as she finishes with her make-up while I sigh, disliking the memories from my childhood.

"Well," I begin as she turns to face me, "I wasn't well-liked and most of the people at my school always avoided me, except for a few. I managed to keep a really close friend for a whole year and boys normally kept me at a distance."

"They were jerks?" she asks and I nod with pursed lips.

"Yeah, I was the odd one that preferred to be on her own," I say, ignoring the lonely feeling I always felt in my past. "The other friends I had were my family."

"What about your close friend?" she asks.

"She had to leave because her family was moving away," I say. "That all happened in my junior year and my senior year was relatively lonely like any other, except for the few friends that I had."

"Now you have me, Weny," Rebekah tells me with a smile and I return it.

"Now I have you, Bex," I say.

Rebekah bumps my shoulder with hers and we chuckle. "Well, how about you're my cool older sister who drives me to and from school?"

"I'm older than you?" I ask and she nods.

"I was turned into a vampire a year younger than when you died, making me younger than you."

"Great, I'll be known as the buzz-kill sister."

"Don't worry. You'll be the cool sister, making the rest of the older siblings look like the buzz-kills."

I chuckle as she smiles at me. "Well, I'd be honored."

"Great, let's go," she says as she stands up, picking up a very stylish shoulder bag before we make our way out of the boarding house so I can drive her to school.

I can't help but feel a pang of hurt at the thought of having a younger sister. This whole thing makes me remember my _real_ younger sister, the one that died too young and the one that I loved above all else. I can feel the sting of my eyes watering, but I blink the tears away, not wanting to cry in front of Rebekah or anyone, for that matter.

"Hey, Bex?" I say as we walk down the stairs.

"Yeah?" she asks as we go to the exit the front door.

"I want you to knock them dead," I say. "Be the best unexpected thing of the year."

She grins at me and I smile at her. "I will."

* * *

I sigh after entering the Salvatore's boarding house after having dropped Rebekah off at school, only to receive a text from her on my way back that said that we were going to some sort of party and a bonfire, taking notice that I have no choice in the matter.

After having left Rebekah at school, I decided to drive around the town, getting to know where everything was. I had become lost a few times, but managed to find myself since it is a relatively small town with more woods than civilization. _No wonder there are so much supernatural beings, _I think. _This place is perfect for hiding such things._

I close the front door behind me as I send Rebekah my 'acceptance to her idea of going to the bonfire-party thing tonight before putting my phone back in my purse, which will be great since we'll have some time to go out while getting to know the locals.

"Look who we have here," Damon says as he stands in the living room while holding a glass of what must be whiskey.

"Damon," I say while narrowing my eyes at him.

"Gwen," he says with a smirk as he tilts his glass at me. "Want a drink?"

"It's a bit too early for me and I don't have any stress to numb," I say with a small smile. "Need anything?"

"Well, I want to get to know the people I'm playing host to," he says as he turns around and walks over to some table behind a couch where there are bottles filled with alcohol and things to prepare it.

"What do you want to know?" I ask, deciding to get to know the older Salvatore since the younger one is too far over the edge to have a decent conversation with without being in danger of losing a head. "You're being nice and that means you're looking to find out any type of secret I may be hiding."

"Well, you caught me," he says with a lopsided smile. "You see, I know what Rebekah is," he says as he pours alcohol into his glass without looking at me. "She's an Original vampire while you remain a mystery."

"I'm a mystery?" I ask, deciding to play along his game as he smirks at me.

"You certainly are," he says as he begins to make his way over to me. "You don't seem like the type of person who likes to kill since you wanted Klaus to spare my life in Chicago, but that makes me wonder why Klaus would keep someone so moral by his side since he's a psychopath."

"Watch it, Salvatore. Nik may be a bastard, but he's still my best friend," I warn him while giving him a half-hearted glare.

"I didn't know he could even have friends," he says. "I don't suppose it's an easy chore."

"It isn't, but you get used to it," I say and I smile at him as he stands in front of me while I cross my arms over my chest. "Actually, Nik and I didn't get off to a great start." I make my way over to one of the couches and sit down as Damon frowns at me.

"Really? Do tell," he says and I know that he's trying to find out about me so that he can share the information with the rest of his band of supernatural beings, but I could care less since I don't feel threatened by any of them, for now.

"I was human when I met him. He thought I was someone from his past and tried to kidnap me to look into it," I say as he sits down next to me while placing his elbow on the back of the couch so he can fully face me while I keep the important details out of the story.

"You _were _human?"

"Are you going to cut in while I tell the story?" I ask and he motions me to continue. "He failed at his attempt of kidnapping me when I screamed at the top of my lungs in the park near my home, which was crowded, and, later on, I learned he had eyes on me after his ridiculous attempt to kidnap me."

"Isn't he creepy," says Damon.

I chuckle at Damon's remark since it is true before saying, "Yes, he can be creepy at times like any other vampire," I say. "After a month of his horrible plan of kidnapping me, I had an accident that resulted in my death."

"You're a vampire?" he asks and I shrug.

"Close, but no," I say. "I woke up in the hospital and Nik was there with me. That's when I believed everything he told me about the supernatural world. I didn't believe him at first, thinking that he was crazy, but I started to when he told me how I died and that I should've been dead if I wasn't supernatural. I actually believed him when people didn't seem to see me or notice I was there in front of them."

"That leads me to wonder what you might be," he says as he leans closer to me, causing my heart to beat a bit harder at how close he is to me, but I gulp down a nervous lump in my throat as I keep my eyes locked with his.

I kept my eyes locked with his, not backing down since that is what he wants me to do, seeing if I'm one to easily back down, but I won't. I can perfectly see the light shades of blue that is the color of his eyes and his soft exhale that ghosts on my skin.

"You don't have to ask nicely," I say, "nor try to charm me. I did say that you don't do it for me back in Chicago."

"Can't blame a guy for trying," he says as he leans back as he keeps wearing a lopsided smile.

"I'll give you points for trying."

"Are you going to tell me what you are?"

I hum while mockingly thinking about it for a couple of seconds. "I will."

"So?" he asks and I give him a tight smile.

"Ask your witch about special ghosts," I say with a smile as his phone begins to ring while he stares at me in confusion. "And when you get your answer, remember that I'm a special kind of ghost with abilities that will blow you away."

I teleport from his presence and into the hall that led to where he was, hearing him answer his phone as I make my way to my room, teleporting and locking myself in my room after making sure that I was out of sight.

I place a hand over my chest and try to calm my shallow beating heart, which is beating too fast for my liking and it's all because of me being stupid enough to get so close to a vampire that could've had me for a snack.

* * *

"You did not," I say while chuckling on the driver's seat as Rebekah smirks and applies make-up.

We are on our way to the spot where the bonfire is taking place near the school after having picked up Rebekah from school. We had gone straight to the Salvatore's boarding house so Rebekah could get dressed for the party since she didn't want to be late and left at dusk, now we're driving under the starry night.

While Rebekah wears a rather stylish pink outfit that I'll probably borrow from her later on, I wear my usual clothes, but, instead of wearing my white tank top and cream cardigan, I wear a cream tunic dress. My usual necklace as my only accessory and my hair is free with a thin braid on the side of my head.

"I most certainly did," she says as she finishes applying make-up and slumps back in the passenger's seat. "I just loved the look on her face after I showed off my moves to the squad."

"Well, gaining popularity on your first day is a good start and you already have the good looks, you'll have boys asking you out soon enough," I say with a smile that she mirrors.

"Well, let's start this school year of mine with a bang," she says as I drive into the parking lot of the school and park the car, grabbing my phone and releasing a small groan since I have to carry it in my hand, not having pockets or my purse.

"Ready?" I ask and she turns to me with a smile.

"Ready," she says and we get out of the car, closing the doors behind us and I make sure I am visible before we make our way where the mass of students are in the woods near the school.

"I talked with Damon," I say and she turns to me with a frown as we continue to walk, enjoying the light breeze of the night.

"How was he?" she asks.

"I can't deny that he's good-looking," I say and Rebekah gives me a grin while I roll my eyes at her. "Not interested in him and I don't think we should trust him at all."

"Good to know," she says.

I see the big bonfire with the fire bringing life to the party going around it with music loud coming from somewhere around while people dance, drink, talk and make out all around the place, causing me to scrunch up my nose. I gasp as some drunken boy almost falls on me, but I manage to make myself go through him, letting him fall on the floor before continuing to follow Rebekah since no one noticed what I just did.

Anything to drink is in the many coolers filled with beer and containers of beer with the little red cups all around, which are notorious for when there's a party going on and alcohol is involved.

"This is a party?" asks Rebekah as we walk around the place while she has a raised eyebrow, criticizing the place and I don't blame her.

"Welcome to the parties of the twenty-first century," I say as I wave a hand around the place, "where people get drunk, dance all around without a care in the world and many people get laid."

"Great. Do you see Tyler anywhere?" Rebekah asks as she cranes her neck, looking around for the hybrid and I shrug, not having even really looked around properly.

"Nope," I say. "He's probably with his girlfriend."

"Great, let's get a drink," she says and I follow her to a cooler.

I manage to fill a red cup with a small amount of beer, glad that I can't feel any of its effects, while Rebekah finishes filling hers, only to see Stefan approach us. "You two all right there?"

Stefan takes a cup and begins filling it with beer as I roll my eyes at him while taking a sip from my drink, to which I scrunch up my nose since beer isn't my favorite drink, but I'll have to manage for the night.

"I thought Tyler would be here," Rebekah says, wanting to know where the hybrid is, which I understand since that's the only thing Klaus asked her to do for him.

"You're into Tyler now, huh?" Stefan says with a grin as Rebekah and I give him annoyed looks, knowing that he's not really interested in any way in what Rebekah's doing. "Fickle."

"When you give me the time of day again, we'll talk," says Rebekah, earning Stefan's attention. "Until then, a girl has needs."

"Right on, Bex," I say with a grin before toasting with Rebekah and taking a gulp from our drinks.

The Petrova girl approaches us and takes a cup to fill it with beer, catching me and Rebekah by surprise after what she went through in the school's gym. "Excuse me."

"Elena, hi," Stefan say as he gives Elena the fake smile of a vampire without emotions. "What are you doing?"

"I'm having fun, Stefan. You have a problem with that?" Elena asks as she takes a big gulp from her drink while Rebekah and I smirk at Stefan at Elena's remark.

Stefan eyes Elena drinking her beer with a wary smile. "All right. Take it easy. We both know you're kind of a lightweight."

Elena clears her throat after having drank her cup in one gulp and grinning at Stefan. "Really? You think I'm gonna let a blood addict tell me how to drink?" she says and finishes filling her cup again before walking away as Rebekah and I smirk at Stefan.

"Wow…she shut you up," I say to Stefan as Rebekah chuckles and Stefan gives me a glare before walking away.

"He deserved that," says Rebekah.

"What? What Elena said or what I said?" I ask as I take a sip from my drink.

"Both," she says and we smile at one another.

"Now, let's try to have a fun night," I say and we turn around to find something fun to do in this party, apart from watching Stefan follow Elena like a guard dog.

* * *

"Rebekah, what are you doing?" I ask her as I hand her a cup full of beer that she asked me to get for her and sitting down to her right on a bench in front of a small campfire, watching her throw away a marshmallow.

"Trying to make one of these things," Rebekah says while wearing a look of concentration as she tries to roast a marshmallow, which causes me to chuckle at her attempts.

"Need any help?" I ask her.

"No, I'll figure out this thing on my own," she says with determination and I chuckle at her as she goes to roast another one.

Feeling someone else near us, Rebekah and I turn to see Damon sitting down on Rebekah's other side. "Damon," I greet and he nods at me with a grin.

"What? No friends your own age?" Rebekah asks him, paying more attention to her marshmallow.

"Like you can talk," Damon retorts and I can't help but chuckle as Rebekah pulls back the stick holding her marshmallow, blowing out the fire on the marshmallow.

"Well, I'm gonna go get a drink," I say as I stand up and turn to Rebekah. "Want anything?"

"I'm good," she says and motions at Damon with her eyes, wanting to be alone with him and I nod at her before taking my leave.

I walk towards a cooler and fill a cup with a bit of beer, taking a sip from it. Suddenly, a hand is on the small of my back before a blond-haired boy stands next to me while wearing a grin. I scrunch up my nose in disgust at the alcoholic stench he's giving off.

"Hello, there," he says and I smile at him, taking his hand off my back.

"Hello and goodbye," I say as I turn around but I'm pulled back by a hand grabbing my elbow, turning around to see the same blond-haired boy with his grin ever present.

"I didn't catch your name, sweetie," he says and I roll my eyes at him. "I'm Zack."

"I don't think I said it and I won't and nice meeting you, Zack, so let me go," I say as I give him a glare, disliking the look of lust on his face, which causes me to become nervous.

"Come on, let's have some fun," he says. "We can have loss of fun."

I frown at his slurring, but remember that he's drunk and I pull my arm free from his grip. "Sorry, you don't do it for me."

"Well, you're juss gonna has to likes it," he says as he goes to grab me again, but a hand stops him by his wrist and I look to my side to see Rebekah.

"I think that's enough," she says as her grip tightens and the boy groans in pain while people seem to ignore the scene that's going on. "That's no way to get into a girl's good side."

"I think he gets it, Bex," I say as the boy's kneeling on the ground while Rebekah keeps a tight hold on him, glaring down at the boy.

"He does seem cute," she says and I shrug.

"Blond boys don't do it for me," I say and she nods. "I prefer dark and mysterious," I say with a grin and she chuckles before releasing the groaning boy, hearing him whimper as he cradles his wrist.

"That will teach you not to touch what doesn't want to be touched," Rebekah says to Zack, but he doesn't seem to have heard her since he's still cradling his hand.

"Let's go," I say. "I'm done with this party."

"You go ahead," says Rebekah and I frown at her. "I need to check on the hybrid first."

I nod at her before she's gone in a blink of an eye and I turn around, making my way towards the parking lot. I push through a group of students and make it into the parking lot, sighing in relief at having made it without problem

I frown as I notice the burning car in the parking lot, seeing Elena, Stefan and some other man staring at it while trying to catch their breaths, but I shrug since the doppelgänger isn't dead and seems to be all right and still human.

"You guys all right over there?" I ask, making the three of them turn to me as I smile over at them, noticing Stefan recognized me using his own words from earlier before turning around and making my way over to my car.

I open the driver's door to Rebekah's car and climb in, slumping back as I take a deep breath, tired from standing around and watching teenagers do their crazy things. _I am still a teenager, _I think as I chuckle to myself and turn on the car. _Well, this seems to have been a somewhat productive night._

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please, review , they help a lot for the inspiration and see ya later!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hello! And another chapter has appeared! Hope you enjoy it like I am enjoying writing it! Remember: Nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

"I love you!" Rebekah says as she smiles at me brightly while I sit on her bed cross-legged and smile back at her after having picked her up from school, watching her modeling the boots I had gotten for her from the mall we went to yesterday, which was outside of town since Mystic Falls isn't that much of a place with big stores or many places to just spend the time and have some fun.

"You are most welcome," I tell her as she hops a few times, trying out her boots while I chuckle at the excitement that is ever present on her face.

"I love them!" she says. "This is the first present I've got after being un-daggered."

"What about the stuff Nik got you in Chicago?" I ask with furrowed brows.

"Those weren't presents," she says, to which I stare at her in confusion, prompting her to explain. "They were bargaining chips, not gifts. It's a way to buy me off and not having to apologize for daggering me."

I nod at her with a smile in agreement. "Well, what else could we expect from him?"

"Exactly," she says as we laugh at Klaus' expense; his ears must be burning right about now.

I frown as a thought comes to mind. "Does your whole family have these…um," I begin as I think of a proper word while she looks up from admiring her boots to look at me expectantly, "outstanding, killer accents?"

She laughs and I chuckle with her. "Yes, we all do."

"Well, with the accents, I don't think you need compulsion," I say and she chuckles, to which I smile. "I wish I had your accent and be the exotic beauty from foreign country." I chuckle as I make a dramatic pose as if modeling.

Rebekah guffaws and calms down. "Speaking about my family," she begins and takes a seat next to me, and we look at one another while I wait for her to continue whatever she's going to say. "We haven't addressed the topic of Kol."

I stare at her with a frown and my mouth partly open, for I wasn't expecting that and I have nothing to say to her statement. "I honestly don't know how to respond to that."

"What will you do once you meet him? Well, he'll probably want to kill you when he sees you," she says and I sigh before clearing my throat, nervous at the thought of Kol being awakened.

"This is a good way to not get me to want to un-dagger the rest of your family," I say and she chuckles. I sigh as I place my hands on my lap, fumbling with the hem of my cardigan. "I don't know, Bex. I'm not Jen, of that I'm absolutely sure. I'm not her reincarnation; I just look like her a bit. I don't have anything connecting me to her, apart from my necklace and appearance, but I'm a whole other person."

"Clearly," she says and I huff with a smile.

"I just hope that your brother sees that. I mean that I don't want to be known as the exact copy of her since she clearly wasn't much of a good person," I say. "Besides, I don't care what might happen to me, I only want Nik to make peace with his family because I didn't even get to say goodbye to mine while he keeps his daggered. He may not care much about humanity, but he does have it and I want him to take the opportunity of what he has before he loses it like I did."

She nods in understanding before sighing. "Well, Nik's lucky to have you for a friend, he needs it, _a lot_," she says and I chuckle at her face when she says the last words with a dramatic face. "Besides, you must've made a good impression on Elijah since you're still alive and you have outdone yourself with Nik, including me."

"I'm glad my work has been satisfactory," I say with a small smile.

"We'll deal with Kol when the time comes," she says and I nod. "I just hope I don't lose you to his temper and past indiscretions that have nothing to do with you."

"Me neither," I say and she chuckles before she stands up and goes to her dresser, placing clothes in it from a bag on top of it, probably more clothes that she bought.

"Elena approached me today," she says, causing me to frown at her back.

"What did she want?" I ask, curious as to what the Petrova girl wanted, which is probably not good for us, especially not for Klaus.

"She wanted to know about Mikael," she says as she turns to face me, finishing her task of putting her clothes away, and my eyes widen in shock at the name she said.

I never thought I'd hear that name under such circumstances. Klaus told me everything that Mikael ever did and none of them are things to be expected from a father that supposedly loves his family. Mikael may be the first person I have ever loathed without even meeting me, which is pointless since he seems like a homicidal maniac that will stop at nothing to kill Klaus. Just thinking about Mikael killing Klaus makes my blood boil in anger. I truly despise that man for wanting to kill Klaus because he's not his biological son; it's not Klaus' fault.

"What?" I ask as I stand up with a deep frown on my face. "How do they know about him?" _I don't like this at all._

Rebekah shrugs as she exits the room and I follow behind her, surprised at her calm demeanor as we go down the stairs. "I don't know, but she knows where he is, so that means that Damon's in on it and they somehow found him."

"So what are we going to do about it? We have to do something," I say as we enter the living room, seeing six girls standing there, each dressed up in a pretty mini dress of different shapes and colors, which causes me to raise an eyebrow at Rebekah in question.

"I'd kill her, but Nik will dagger me if I did," she says and I sigh. "Okay, girls, why don't you take your preparations to the other room? I'll call you when I need you to model them for me."

I watch each girl wearing a fancy dress as they leave to go to the next room and I turn to Rebekah with a confused look. "Do I want to know?" I look from the doorway the girls disappeared to and back to Rebekah.

"They're going to model me some dresses and I'll choose which one I want to wear for homecoming," she says and I hum.

"They're compelled, aren't they?" I ask and she grins at me as she pulls out her phone from her pants' pocket. "Okay, so what about Elena? What do we do with her since we can't kill her to stop looking for Mikael and who knows how many other people know about him?" I groan in irritation at this, not having expected for Mikael to ever make an appearance. "This is just great." My sarcasm is ever present in my tone.

She seems to be texting a message as I cross my arms over my chest. "I'll just have to scare her away with the gruesome story of our family since Nik made it clear that he needs her alive to make his bloody hybrids."

"Great," I say as she puts away her phone and looks at me, grinning at my sarcastic tone. "A trip down memory lane is what we need."

"How much do you know about my family?" she asks and I shrug.

"Well, Nik told me about Jen, what led to the vampire-turning ritual, he told me that Mikael—your own father—killed your mother and that he's been hunting you and your siblings for centuries," I say and she nods.

"Nik keeps surprising me with how much trust he places on you," she says and I smile. "He was never like this with Jen. He actually disliked her quite a lot."

"Yeah, well, I'm his shoulder to cry on and best friend that listens to everything he says," I say and she nods. "I have also grown to be immune to his tantrums and whining, which is not a pleasant thing."

"Well, then, I don't suppose you'd mind me kidnapping you from him," she says while wearing a grin and I chuckle.

"I wouldn't mind at all," I say with a grin of my own.

"So, which dress did you like?" she asks and I purse my lips, trying to recall the dresses the girls were wearing that I managed to take a glimpse of.

"I have no idea," I say and she groans in annoyance, causing me to chuckle at her pout. "It's your fault for asking a ghost that's stuck in the same clothes she died in and has been wearing them for six years." She rolls her eyes at me and I chuckle at her exasperated demeanor.

* * *

"Can I have one?" I ask Rebekah from where I sit on the edge of a dining table as she picks up a bottle of whatever alcohol there is in one of the cabinets in the Salvatore's home, even though I can't really taste the drink, but I like to do things I used to do while I was alive; it helps to remind me what I was once and the joys it brought to my life.

"Coming," she says as she picks up a glass while I hum to the song that Rebekah put on earlier while we wait for Elena to arrive.

I don't like this plan of Rebekah's. It reveals too much about their family and it could reveal some sort of weakness. I really hope she knows what she's doing because this can backfire and it may have a heavy effect on her and Klaus. I cannot help but worry and fidget a lot, truly disliking this course of action, especially taking it with Elena as our target. Elena had not given me a good impression, apart from the fact that Klaus has only ever insulted the Petrova bloodline, but admitting that it has benefits when it comes to witchcraft.

The first thing that Klaus told me about the Petrova bloodline was that it is selfish and manipulative. He said it is a cursed line to forever string along two men that will always turn out to be brothers. He also warned me that it will always bite you in the bottom when the time comes and it is best to keep a distance from it. He had first told me about the first Petrova that wore Elena's face, how he loved her and how she loved him, but that didn't stop her from loving another, which broke his heart. He truly despises the woman to this day by how he talked about her. He then told me about Katherine and how he didn't fall to her charms like he did with her ancestor, but his brother had not learned his lesson, which proved to be a great inconvenience for Klaus and his first attempt to break his curse. This brings us to the latest Petrova girl, which, by what Klaus has told me, seems to be following in her ancestors' footsteps.

I hear the front door open and close, bringing me out of my thoughts and I turn my head to the side to see Elena walking in. "Hello, Petrova girl," I say with a grin and she nods at me warily.

"Hey, what's up?" Rebekah says as she walks over to me while smiling at Elena, which is a very fake smile that can fool anyone who isn't supernatural.

"You invited me over," Elena says as Rebekah places the bottle and the glasses next to me on the table, "to talk."

"All right, girls. Have at it," Rebekah says and the six girls from before come back in a line in front of us, showing off the dresses. "Okay, now, twirl please."

The six girls twirl before standing straight in a line. "The red one looks good," I mumble absentmindedly and Rebekah smiles at me, satisfied with my choice.

"Thank you, Weny," says Rebekah before turning to look at Elena.

"You compelled your own runway show?" asks Elena with a raised eyebrow, not amused by this.

"It _is_ a bit dramatic, Bex," I say and get a pointed look from Rebekah, to which I smile at her innocently before she turns back to face Elena.

"I need a homecoming dress," Rebekah says as if it was obvious why she needed the girls to model for her the dresses. "So, what do you think? Pick one."

Elena scoffs with a mocking smile and I frown at her attitude. "I'm not here to help either of you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael."

"Is that a threat, Petrova?" I ask her while wearing a glare, not liking how she threatens Rebekah by claiming to wake up Mikael, which is the same as threatening Klaus.

Rebekah smiles at her and blurs over to one of the girls modeling and her vampire features appear as she goes to bite into the girl's neck, but stops a few inches away. She leans back and makes it clear that she'll kill the girl, unless Elena does as she's told. I could only sigh, not surprised by this since Klaus has done this before; he blackmails his targets through their sympathy and it normally gets him results, if they have sympathy.

"I said pick one, Elena," Rebekah says, still wearing her vampire features as Elena's eyes widen in fear and I hop down from the table, ready to disappear if things get bloody.

"The red one," she says and I'm surprised she picked the same one I did, but I also shake my head at her.

One thing I've learned while being with Klaus is that you never back down when an Original threatens you with another person's life because you're giving them power over you through other people. This is very effective when you care too much for others, especially when you're easy to get to that even people you don't know can be used against you, which seems to be the case with Elena. I have been surrounded by much death while being with Klaus to not get easily attached to people who won't endure in my life, especially since I have Klaus in my life.

I may seem like a heartless person, but I prefer to only care for those that actually matter and are worth fighting for since it's preferable to not have many friends, especially when you're a supernatural being that attracts danger with only your scent and are in the company of the most lethal and dangerous vampires.

"There," Rebekah says as her face returns to normal while she strokes the hair of the girl she was about to kill, the latter whimpering in fear. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Well, very intense, Bex," I say and she grins at me as I fill the two glasses on the table that Rebekah got with the contents of the bottle.

"**Go away. Remember nothing,**" Rebekah says and I watch as the six girls leave the room before Rebekah approaches me. I give her one of the two glasses I filled before turning to face Elena and she says, "You _do not_ threaten me. You will learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?"

Elena nods at Rebekah and I can see her become fearful of Rebekah and I say sincerely, "You should be careful, Elena. Like you, Stefan wanted to know a bit too much and look where that got him. That's what happens when you play with fire."

"What about you?" she asks me and I shrug. "You don't seem burned."

"Well, I don't provoke the fire," I say before Rebekah and I walk around her to leave the room, drinking the glass in one gulp since I can't feel its effects on my throat before leaving it on a table in the hall and continuing to follow Rebekah up the stairs with Elena in tow. "Where are we going, Bex?"

"How fun is this?" she asks as she opens the door to a bedroom, which is filled with books and other accommodations, meaning that it belongs to either Damon or Stefan since it seems used, unlike the other empty rooms.

"We shouldn't be here," Elena says as she stays on the doorway while Rebekah goes through a drawer and I look around the room, finding it quite homely.

"I would rather not snoop on any person's room, Bex," I say, hearing Elena scoff.

"Of course we should," says Rebekah. "Come on, like you never wanted to snoop?" she says and shows Elena some boxers. "Boxer briefs. Now that's a change from the twenties."

"Whose room is this?" I ask as I look around, knowing that—by the look of Rebekah—she's trying to get a rise from Elena.

"Stefan's," says Elena and I nod, admiring the room, which seems quite cozy and warm for an emotionless vampire.

"Then I really don't want to snoop," I say, dreading whatever I might find that belongs to Rebekah's former lover and Rebekah frowns at me.

"Why the tone of dread?" asks Rebekah.

"Because I don't want to snoop on the vampire you slept with, Bex," I say. "Call it a rule of our friendship of not wanting to be scarred."

"Understandable," Rebekah says while nodding. "That doesn't mean I don't want to," she says while grinning and I shake my head at her with a smile.

Elena seems to be getting irritated and asks, "Are you gonna root through his stuff all night, or are you gonna start your story?"

"Ugh, you really are no fun," Rebekah says with a sigh.

"I could've told you that," I say and Elena shoots me a dirty look that I counter with a small smile, not caring about what she thinks since my words are true.

Rebekah chuckles at my words before looking at Elena. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe," says Elena. "How did you guys end up here?"

"My parents had just started a family when a plague struck their homeland," Rebekah says as she joins me in going through some papers on a desk, not really reading them since it's only a habit of mine to simply look at things without really paying attention to them when I'm bored. "They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."

"So how did you end up here?" Elena asks and we turn to her, having left the papers alone. "This part of the world hadn't been discovered yet."

Rebekah huffs with a smile as I see a guitar perched up against a desk and walk over to it. "Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy."

"Blessed by the gifts of speed and strength," I say, quoting Klaus from when he told me the story as I stroke the strings of the guitar, deciding to leave it alone and I turn back to Rebekah and Elena.

"That led my family here, where we lived amongst those people," says Rebekah.

"The werewolves?" asks Elena and I frown at her, wondering how she knew about that but I shrug it off.

"To us, they were just our neighbors," says Rebekah as she continues to look around the many things on the desks around the room while I stood near a window. "My family lived in peace with them for over twenty years, during which time my family had more children, including me."

"You make it sound so normal," says Elena as Rebekah goes to look outside another window, a melancholic look on her face.

"It was," says Rebekah. "Once a month, our family retreated to the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night. By morning we'd return home. One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother, Henrik, snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik paid the price."

I recall the day Klaus told me about Henrik. That was the first and only time I've ever seen his eyes water and a single tear run down his face as he remembered his youngest brother, but he had wiped it away as quickly as it fell. The destroyed and agonized look he wore broke my heart that day, knowing how much pain it causes when one loses a younger sibling, someone who looks up to you and depends on you for so many things, someone who loves you unconditionally and without a fault.

I close my eyes and push back the tears that threaten to fall from my eyes as I take a silent and deep breath, clearing my throat. I could feel a lump grow in my throat as it tries to push the tears out, but I manage to push it back with an intake of breath. I am not about to just start crying out of nowhere, especially in front of Elena and Rebekah. Apart from my family, the only other person that has ever seen me cry is Klaus and no one else. I dislike crying because it only makes people give me pitying looks, thinking me too fragile and such, which is _very_ annoying.

"And that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors," Rebekah says, turning around to face Elena. "And one of the last moments my family had together as humans."

I watch Rebekah as her eyes seem to be watering and Elena's phone buzzes, causing her to look away from Rebekah to take her phone out of her pocket, giving Rebekah time to compose herself. I give her a smile, showing her that I'm here for her and she returns it with a small one of her own.

"You better get that," I say to Elena. "That'll be the oldest Salvatore checking up on you since the youngest is being quite the irritating vampire," I say and Elena picks up her phone while I walk over to Rebekah. "You okay?" I whisper and she nods at me with a smile.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I last dove into such memories," she says and I nod before turning to watch Elena talk to whoever it is, which is probably Damon while Rebekah reads over some journal or something that she must've picked up when I glanced at Elena.

We look up at Elena after hearing her give a small outburst into the phone about Damon doing something that does not seem to be good to Elena, which causes me and Rebekah to narrow our eyes at the Petrova girl when she hangs up, curious as to whatever is going on.

"Well, I'm bored," Rebekah says as she grabs a journal and lies down on Stefan's bed on her stomach, deciding to read the journal. "I'm sure you also have questions that Gwen can answer."

I glare at her and she gives me a grin before I face Elena and asking, "What do you want to know?"

"Well, I know what you are. Bonnie figured it out. You're a ghost that's stuck, not being able to move on nor actually be here amongst the living," she says and I raise my eyebrows in surprise at her witch figuring it out so fast. "You must've gone through something terrible and I'm sorry for that."

My mouth opens partly to say something, but I stop as I frown at her, disliking the pity she's giving me, trying to sympathize with me through this and, most likely, use it to her own benefit. I just despise the look she's giving me, the look of pity and it only makes me want to slap it off of her face.

I've been given that look before and I remember it clearly. I remember lying on a hospital bed, proclaimed a miracle, only to be given looks of pity and whispering how I lost so much when they thought I wasn't listening to me. I despised it even more when they said it to my face, seeming to understand what I was going through, but it only made me bitter towards them.

The only one who I was grateful for being there was Klaus. He didn't pity me, he shared things with me. He didn't sympathize with me, he understood me. He didn't treat me like glass, he pushed me. I will forever be grateful for him being there and it surprised me he did when I learned how cruel and indifferent he is to others. He didn't become my therapist; he became my friend and family. _That's what I needed, _I think as I gulp down a lump in my throat.

"I don't need pity, Elena," I say sharply. "I have enough of that already to last me for an eternity. Ask what you want to know because I'm not going to be your friend in the near future…or ever."

She nods, taken aback by my outburst while I hear Rebekah sniggering behind me, to which I roll my eyes at since she must be enjoying this. "How do you know Klaus?"

"I met him when I was still human," I say as I sit on the edge of Stefan's bed while staring at Elena, liking the soft covers of the bed under my hands. "He recognized me from someone in his past and tried to kidnap me, but failed."

"How did he fail to do that?" Rebekah asks from behind me and I turn to her, noticing her confused look.

"We were in a crowded place, his compulsion didn't work, I screamed and he ran when people looked at us," I say and Rebekah guffaws. "It wasn't his brightest moment."

"I'll say," Rebekah says as she calms down her chuckling before returning to read Stefan's journal.

"What do you mean he recognized you?" Elena asks and I turn back to her.

"I'm like you, Elena," I say and she frowns at me, confused at my words. "I'm also a doppelgänger." I frown. "Or I was. I don't know if I still count since I'm dead."

"You count," says Rebekah.

Her eyes widen in shock before sitting down in a chair near a small, round table. "What?"

"My ancestor, Jen, the one that I look like, used to live in the same village Nik's family lived in. She was the Original family's neighbor and the sister of the one you and Katerina look like," I say and Elena's eyes can't seem to widen more, which causes me to grin. "Our ancestors were related, but Jen's bloodline strayed from the Petrova's and became its own, which is why we aren't directly related."

"Wow," Elena says, taken by surprise by my revelation. "But we're still related, somehow, right?"

"Our only connection to one another is through our ancestors' history with the Originals," I say without any disdain, "nothing more."

She nods and I make it clear that we're not related, which we really aren't and I don't want her to think that I am some kind of lost cousin or something because we aren't. It's bad enough I'm the descendant of Jen, but the last thing I need is to be related to a Petrova since Klaus has said that it only brings nothing good to their loved ones. Besides, I had a family and that is the only one I knew.

"And you're Klaus' friend?" she asks as if it was an impossible thing to be, which causes me to become annoyed, but I manage to give her a forced smile.

"Yes," I say. "Look, I understand that it seems impossible to you, but it isn't. Nik has been there for me and he's like my brother, even with his foul temper and I still love him with it."

"What about me?" asks Rebekah, miffed because I didn't mention her and I smile.

"You're already on even ground with Nik, Bex," I tell her as I turn to face her. "You are much better to talk to, which is probably because you're a girl and I haven't had female company in so long."

She grins at me and nods. "Much better," she says before turning back to read the journal and I turn back to Elena.

"Did Jen have something to do with the hybrid curse?" Elena asks.

"No, but she was important in a way for something, but Bex will get to that," I say as I lay on my back next to Rebekah. "Now, I'm bored. You take over," I say to Rebekah and she rolls her eyes in annoyance as I fake taking a nap.

"Did you get your fill of snooping yet?" I hear Elena ask, waiting for Rebekah to continue with her story and I open my eyes to stare at the ceiling. _She really has guts to demand like that from an Original, _I think to myself as I grin. "Can we get on with the story?"

Rebekah tosses Stefan's journal on the bed before she stands up and walks over to where Elena's sitting next to a table. I roll on my stomach and watch as Rebekah looks around the items on the table, picking up a photo frame of Stefan with Elena. By the looks of it they were in school at the time the photo was taken.

"Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple," Rebekah says as before looking at Elena with a frown.

"Me neither," I say honestly since Elena seems so…dull, but Stefan does like to brood; they match each other's depressive looks.

"Why would either of you?" asks Elena, appearing as if she knew something we didn't. "Neither of you know anything about who he really is," she says as she crosses her arms over her chest as I sit on the edge of the bed while Rebekah smiles at her.

"I know exactly who he is," Rebekah says as she leans close to Elena menacingly. "He's a vampire. We're a predatory species."

"Besides, you're just a little human that will soon die like I did," I say and Elena frowns at me worriedly. "You consciously put yourself and others in danger. I wonder how long it will be until everyone you love dies before you follow after them. That is always the outcome when you hang around vampires. You're a human and Rebekah's right; vampires are a predatory species that snacks on your kind."

"We don't have time to care about humans and their silly little lives," says Rebekah.

"Is that why you did that runway show earlier?" Elena counters. "'Cause you don't care about the homecoming dance?" Rebekah straightens up and Elena shrugs. "You know what? I'm just gonna go."

Elena stands up and turns to leave. "You haven't even heard half the story," Rebekah says, stopping Elena from leaving and I frown at her, not liking that she's telling Elena the story of the Originals.

"And you're not going to tell it," says Elena. "You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with; maybe you can compel yourself a friend." She turns to leave and I smile since I really didn't want to spend another minute with her attitude.

"The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give," Rebekah says, which makes Elena stop and turn to face Rebekah.

"Let her leave, Bex," I hiss at her, knowing that this is what Elena wanted. "It's better to keep them in suspense."

"It belonged to the Original witch," Rebekah says, ignoring my plea to stop and let Elena leave.

"The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?" Elena asks and I roll my eyes at Rebekah for continuing to reveal things that are better kept unsaid.

"Not just the hybrid curse," says Rebekah.

"Rebekah," I whisper, warning her to stop.

"She's the one who turned us into vampires," Rebekah says and I close my eyes in defeat, knowing that Klaus won't be pleased with his sister revealing _everything_. "I'm thirsty," she says and turns to me. "Do you want a drink?" I shrug before following her out of the room with Elena following close behind.

"So vampirism was a form of protection?" Elena asks from behind us as we descend the stairs.

"What else would it be?" I ask, for I always believed that vampirism couldn't have been just a curse as films and books depict, even before I met Klaus and turned into a ghost.

"A curse," Elena says matter-of-factly.

"We can't always let ourselves believe what movies and books say," I say. "Most of them are made by people that don't even believe in what they create." These are words that my father had once told me, which molded my way of thinking like any child.

"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive," says Rebekah.

"Yeah, but why stay?" asks Elena. "If they were so afraid of the werewolves, why not leave?"

"Pride," Rebekah answers simply as we reach the bottom of the steps before she turns to face Elena. "My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses."

Rebekah explains further what had happened when her parents went to Ayana to ask her to do the spell for them as we made our way to where the liquor was. Rebekah explains that Ayana turned down their request and Mikael told his wife it was her job to the spell since Ayana wasn't going to do it.

"In her hands?" Elena asks and I stare at her dumbfounded. "How could she do anything?"

"Because my mother was also a witch," Rebekah says and we share a smile at Elena's slow way of understanding.

"What?" Elena asks.

"The witch of the Original family, the Original witch," I say with a tone of it being obvious and she stops following us, shocked to hear what we revealed to her.

Rebekah and I enter one of the many living rooms of the Salvatore home and Elena appears after a few seconds. "Where do they keep their best vintage?" Rebekah asks Elena.

"But if your mother was a witch, then…" Elena begins.

"Am I? No," Rebekah answers her unfinished question. "A witch is nature's servant. A vampire is an abomination of nature," she says as she looks through some cabinets. "You can either be one or the other, never both," she says as she takes a bottle, satisfied with whatever it was while I sit on one of the couches that were in front of the fireplace. "My mother did this for us. She did not turn."

"How did you turn?" Elena asks as Rebekah comes to stand next to the fireplace with the bottle of liquor I one hand and a glass in the other while I remember when Klaus told me how they were turned into vampires.

"She called upon the sun for life and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality," Rebekah says and I sigh, knowing that the way they turned was only torture. "That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts."

"He killed you," Elena exhales in disbelief and I sigh as Rebekah turns from watching the lit fireplace to face Elena.

"And he wasn't delicate about it either," Rebekah says and she breaks the neck of the bottle, causing Elena to flinch before throwing it into the fireplace. She further explains what her father did to complete the transition from human to vampire as she takes her drink. "He made us drink Jen's blood when we woke, which he acquired in secret. It was euphoric. The feeling of power was indescribable."

"Yet, Ayana was right," I say and Elena frowns at me while I remember that a vampire's weaknesses were the consequences of their creation.

"The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back; for every strength, there would be a weakness," says Rebekah. "The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks. And though my mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbors who had opened their home to us could now keep us out, but Jen made sure of that as she ruined our name, which ruined our lives. Flowers at the base of the white oak burned and prevented compulsion."

"The spell also said that the tree that gave them life could also take it away," I say.

"So we burned it to the ground," says Rebekah. "But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated…the hunger. Blood had made us reborn, and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it. And with that the predatory species was born."

"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" Elena asks as Rebekah curiously goes over things in the living room.

"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene," Rebekah says. "With that, he became my father's greatest shame."

"Yeah. Elijah told me this part of the story," Elena says as I look around the living room, going through the titles of the books around it. "Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son."

"She tried to make it right," says Rebekah.

"Which turned out to be trouble for the Petrova line," I say as I find a book and go through it without paying attention since I am quite bored.

"She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him, but Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride," says Rebekah. "As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."

"Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asks in disbelief, to which Rebekah and I turn to face her as we stand next to each other from snooping around the same table.

"He said she broke his heart, so he would break hers," Rebekah says, keeping her emotions in check. "He tore it from her chest as Nik watched. Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother." Rebekah explained to Elena what she promised with Klaus and Elijah to each other on that day.

"Always and forever…" Elena says, trailing off as Rebekah goes over to another table, "even though he locked you in a coffin for ninety years?"

"They're vampires," I answer as I come to stand behind Elena. "You must've known that their emotions are all over the place."

"Exactly…I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik…" Rebekah trails off.

"Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him," I say and Elena turns to me.

"And you haven't disappointed him?" she asks and I chuckle humorlessly.

"I have, but I'm dead…he can't do much, except whine and scream at me," I say as I remember the times that Klaus and I argued about something I had done that he didn't like or something he had done that I didn't like.

"Over a thousand years as a family, we've all made that mistake at least once," says Rebekah. "I've made it several times."

"And you both still love him?" Elena asks as she looks from me to Rebekah, who was now facing her.

"He's my best friend and has been by my side after my death, always supporting me…he's like a brother to me," I say.

"And he's my brother, and we're both immortal," says Rebekah. "Should we spend an eternity alone instead?"

Rebekah seems to have noticed her mistake by revealing her fear of being alone to Elena and composes herself. I could see the emotions in her eyes, ready to come out but then I see them be pushed back.

"You've heard the story. It's time to go," Rebekah says as she stands next to me with the front door behind us as we face Elena. "I said leave, Elena. I don't know what you're up to, but I am no longer playing along." _Finally,_ I think to myself.

"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael," Elena says and I scoff at her with a glare.

"And I've given you a thousand," Rebekah says.

"It doesn't matter, Bex. They'll still wake him," I say as Rebekah glares at Elena. "They want him to help them kill Nik. We're not stupid, Petrova," I say with a heated glare of my own directed at her.

"It's no secret that I want Klaus dead," Elena says bluntly, which only serves to fuel my and Rebekah's anger. "He has a hold over Stefan's life and over mine."

"Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril," Rebekah says as she practically stands in Elena's face with a murderous look on her face. "But make no mistake. If you come after my brother, I will rip you apart. And I get my temper from my father."

Rebekah takes a step back and I glare at Elena. "Nik better not come to harm, Petrova," I warn her as she turns to me, taking the breath she hadn't as Rebekah threatened her, but now is my turn. "You have no _idea_ the things I can do. And trust me when I tell you that I can tear down this house with just a thought, imagine what else I can do."

Elena stares at me with wide and wary eyes while Rebekah and I continue to glare at her. "Now leave," Rebekah says as she steps aside to let Elena leave. Once she was gone, Rebekah and I share a look of worry for Klaus, knowing that tonight will bite us in the bottom sooner or later.

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**Hope you all enjoyed this long chapter! Like always, please review and share your opinions, I would like to know what you think and it inspires me for the next chapter. Well, review and see ya later!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Here's another chapter! Hope you enjoy it and nothing the belongs to the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious. Well, enjoy reading and such. Thanks for the Favs and Follows!**

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**Chapter 7**

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"I can't believe the nerve of her," Rebekah says as she takes a sip from her drink while pacing in front of me while I watch her from where I sit on one of the couches in the living room of the Salvatore home.

Elena had been gone for more than thirty minutes or so and Rebekah is still fuming, feeling protective of Klaus and wanting to kill the Petrova girl but she knew she couldn't. I couldn't blame her. I am still very upset, but I have to keep myself in check and not turn this house upside down. I couldn't help but worry for Klaus, wherever he is, even though he is quite capable of taking care of himself.

"They won't do anything, Bex," I say, trying to calm her down as she downs the rest of her drink in one gulp before going to refill the glass. "If they don't want to die, they better heed our words and don't try anything against Nik."

I hear the front door open and close, not even wanting to imagine who it might be. "I thought I told you to leave…twice," Rebekah says and I turn to see Elena enter the living room with some papers in her hand, to which I frown.

"How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asks us as she eyes me and Rebekah. _What on earth is she getting at?_

"Nik was there," I say.

"And he told me," says Rebekah.

"He lied to you both," Elena says as she approaches Rebekah and I couldn't help but be taken aback by her words.

"And how do you know that?" Rebekah asks with a smirk as I appear to her side, not liking that Elena is accusing Klaus about lying to us about his mother's death; I can't conjure up a reason for Klaus wanting to lie about that.

"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols, the story of your family…how your parents arrived," Elena says as she puts the papers she came with, on the table in front of Rebekah, which were pictures of the symbols she was talking about, "how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this," she says as she places a picture on the table.

"What is this?" I ask, not understanding what any of the pictures have to do with Klaus lying to us about his mother's death.

"This is the symbol for hybrid. It's the combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol," Elena says as Rebekah and I frown down at the pictures. "And this is the one for your mother," she says as she puts another picture of the table of Rebekah's necklace.

"Her necklace," Rebekah whispers as she looks at the picture and I begin t dread where this is heading.

"And this is the story of her death," Elena says as she puts the last picture on the table that had three symbols in it. Elena points to a symbol in the picture. "The hybrid killed the Original witch. Not Mikael…Klaus."

I exhale loudly, freezing on the spot at the words that came out of Elena's mouth. I would have never expected this, not after so much time being with Klaus, standing by his side without a fault. I know that if my heart was beating like it did when I was alive, I would have felt it stop for a second and it would have throbbed. I gulp down a lump that grew in my throat and I lick my lips, not knowing what to say.

"No," Rebekah whispers as I continue to frown at the pictures, the feeling of dread continuing to fill within me. "No, he wouldn't."

"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him," I hear Elena say as I continue to stare at the pictures, not wanting to believe that Klaus killed his own mother, I just didn't want to. "With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. When he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father so that he wouldn't lose you."

"These mean nothing," Rebekah says as she takes the photos, causing me to look up at her with furrowed eyebrows. "They're just stupid drawings," she says as she makes her way over to the fireplace, "done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" She threw the pictures into the fireplace as Elena stands in front of her.

"Then why are you so upset?" Elena asks Rebekah as I watch the whole thing, calculating what Elena is trying to do, which causes anger to boil inside of me.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Rebekah asks her with her eyes glazing over. "I've done nothing to you."

"Klaus killed your mother," Elena says as she stands in front of an emotionally unstable Rebekah, taking advantage of this. "He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop."

"Shut up!" Rebekah yells as she grabs Elena by her neck before slamming her against the wall with her vampire features becoming visible. "Just shut up! Don't talk anymore! Nothing!"

I stare worriedly as Rebekah seems to be close to killing Elena, which I have no problem with, before her features slowly disappear from her face and showing the face of a human girl in pain. Elena gasps for breath after Rebekah releases her and she backs up from the human girl that caused her harm by revealing the truth that I need to be confirmed of, but not from her.

Rebekah begins to sob before kneeling on the floor as Elena and I stare at her, but it only fuels me with anger. I could tell that Elena seems satisfied with the results of her revelation and I couldn't find a single shred of guilt in her eyes. I appear in front of Elena, which causes her to wince as I glare at her while she stares at me with wide eyes that are filled with precaution. I could care less that Klaus said not to kill her, but that didn't mean I couldn't harm her.

"Are you satisfied?" I ask in anger as the lights of the house begin to flicker, which causes Elena to look around in confusion and fear. "I know what you're doing and I don't care if you're telling the truth!" The house begins to shake with many items dropping to the floor as my anger begins to consume me while Elena holds onto the wall in fright as a wind picks up, even though the windows are closed.

I see her breath as she exhales, which means that the house has become cold from my outburst as everything around us takes on a much gloomier color in my rage; everything is gray or blue or a mix of both, showing the rage of a dead person in the form of death itself. I always thought that doing this is actually making others feel death…rather, what I felt when I died, even though I didn't feel much, but making others feel the true essence of death.

"You're just a manipulative bitch, taking advantage of a girl who is suffering…I _know_ what it feels like to suffer like that and I won't let you take advantage of it! I won't kill you…I rather watch you become like Katerina and end up alone, _hated_ by everyone!" I finish and everything becomes calm once more as I continue to glare at Elena, feeling my eyes water in sympathy for Rebekah as everything seems to take color and the cold begins to diminish.

Elena takes deep breaths to calm down as I continue to glare at her, hearing Rebekah continue to sob on the same spot she kneeled on, unaffected by my outburst. Elena locks eyes with me with true fear swimming within her orbs, meaning that my eyes had changed from their natural color to lightning blue, which happens when my abilities respond to my anger and manifests in depth.

"You try any more harm to those who I love, and I _will_ show you what true pain is," I hiss at her as she stares at me with wide eyes; I could see her body shiver and not move from where she stands. Not long passes before she leaves in a hurry after she figures that I am done with her.

I continue to stare at the spot where Elena was, still _not_ _wanting_ to believe that Klaus had killed his own mother, but _knowing_ that it was true, not even sure how I am so sure. This is the moment that decides if my loyalty and friendship to Klaus is true; this is when I will decide if standing by him is right or wrong. And I cannot help but want an explanation as the anger seems to slowly die from within me. I will still side with Klaus…no one in his family deserves to die and I may be angry, but I won't let them kill him; they _will not_ decide who deserves to live or die according to their standards.

Any person would decide to kill Klaus for what he's done, but I'm not anyone. He was there for me when I lost _everything_. He was there to pull me from the endless abyss that I was falling in. He gave me smiles and laughs and everything to make me happy. He gave me hope and gave me reason to continue living, or something of the like…to not lose hope. In turn, he only asked—not out loud—for me to be the friend that he so craved.

Anyone would call me insane for even thinking about defending him, but it has become an instinct to me to just come to his defense. Klaus became my family…he _is_ my family, even though I _hate_ the things he does and that's why he keeps it away from me, which is how I know that he does care about me and how I feel about some things. He shows me his human side and that is enough for me to know that he's not lost…he just needs someone to have hope in him and care about him without fear of him or obligation. That is why I cannot be furious with him, only upset that he didn't tell me, because we're kindred spirits; we don't want to be alone or lose the little we have left.

I take a deep breath, keeping myself in check before turning around and staring down at Rebekah's shaking form, which is because of her sobbing. I kneel down in front of her as she continues to sob while tears stream down her cheeks before I gather her in my arms and hold her tight. I let her cry into my shoulder and she hugs me tight, not caring if her grip was too tight. I let her cry and take out her emotions because I know that she needs this, every vampire needs an outlet. I know it better than anyone.

While I let Rebekah release her anguish and distress, I let my thoughts conclude on what must be done and Rebekah isn't going to stop me, no one is, for my determination overshadows any other quality that I have.

* * *

I stand at the foot of the bed where Rebekah is sleeping with a note in my hand. I had managed to get her to bed after she cried herself into exhaustion. Since she's dead, I appeared with her in her room, sitting her on her bed before cleaning her red and puffy face from crying before making her lie down on her bed, sniffing. I had taken off her shoes and sat beside her with my arm around her shoulders, giving her comfort until she fell asleep.

She had asked me to stay with her before sleep took her, but I didn't promise that I'd be here in the morning. I needed answers of my own and I wasn't going to get them here. I know that Elena might've found the truth, but I needed Klaus to tell me himself; his word means more than hers. In my years together with Klaus, we agreed to not go to conclusions without consulting one another about things such as this.

I hold the note up, scanning my eyes over it once more before walking over to the nightstand next to Rebekah's bed without so much as a whisper of a sound, knowing that she won't hear me. I look down at the words of the note that say,

_Dear Bex,_

_I'm sorry for leaving, but I need answers. Don't get me wrong…I am angry at Klaus and I will give him hell, but I need to do this and I honestly can't explain why in this note._

_I know what I'm dealing with. I have been victim to Klaus' anger and I am used to it. There's no need to worry about my safety because I am already dead and I doubt that Nik will actually hurt me._

_I don't know when I'll be back, but I promise that when I do we will go on an enormous shopping spree or whatever satisfies you._

_I'll miss you and stay safe, don't be foolish and kill the whole town._

_Your bestie,_

_Weny_

I fold the letter and put it under my iPhone on her nightstand, deciding to not take it with me. It's better to not have a way of communication and avoid being found through it. I take one last glance at Rebekah's sleeping form with a small smile on my lips. I couldn't help but be reminded of my sister when she slept after I had lulled her to sleep with a song that I sang and played to her. I sigh before turning around and appearing in one of the living rooms of the Salvatore home.

I look around and make sure that I am alone, not wanting to be seen doing this. And I know that I'm alone when I don't sense movement or anything that might tell me that there's someone in the house. I sit down on one of the couches and pick up a shirt that belongs to Klaus that was mixed in Rebekah's clothing from where I had left it on the coffee table before writing the letter to Rebekah. I fold the shirt into a ball and hold it with both of my hands before closing my eyes, taking in Klaus' essence.

I concentrate on Klaus and the leftover scent of his presence that is still attached to the shirt in my hands. I take a deep breath and ignore the slight throbbing that was beginning to form in my head as I feel myself be pulled to where Klaus' very presence is. I knew that pushing myself to find someone at a great distance away from me would be very exhausting and painful, but I _needed_ to do this; there's no way I will be deterred.

I could hear the clatter and thuds of things moving or falling around the room because of me forcing my abilities to do something that has limits. Any ghost is able to move anywhere without much trouble since they are a spirit, a mere presence or feeling, but I possess living properties that limit my ghostly abilities. I feel my body begin to get light, as if I am being lifted and floating in the air.

I release the breath I was holding and open my eyes to find myself in a dark area. Taking careful notice as my eyes begin to adjust, I notice I'm in a forest in the middle of the night. I stand up from being cross-legged on the floor and look around with Klaus' shirt still in my hands. I look around, only finding darkness as I feel quite nervous just standing in the middle of some forest that I'm not familiar with. _I'm already dead, I'm already dead, _I say to myself over and over as exhaustion begins to engulf my body after my long trip.

Suddenly, I hear something snap behind me, causing me to turn around, only to be suddenly held by me neck against a tree, slumping back against it in my exhaustion. I squint and stare into yellow eyes with protruded veins under them as the person snarls at me with a set of teeth that could only belong to a hybrid, but not the one I'm looking for. This is a male hybrid with dark hair and tan skin, so not Klaus.

I take a deep breath and fall back through the tree, causing the hybrid to stare in confusion as I turn around, only to be held by my arms by someone else, which causes me to yelp in surprise, ready to fight off whoever it is.

"Gwen?" I hear a certain and familiar voice ask as I look up to stare into Klaus' striking blue-hazel eyes.

"I found her standing around," I hear someone say from behind me, concluding that it must be the hybrid that just attacked me. "She smells good enough to eat." I could feel the hungry smirk on the hybrid's face behind me.

"Shut up before I tear out your heart and feed that to you instead," Klaus says, his tone deadly and I hear nothing more coming from the hybrid before Klaus looks down at me while I grab his jacket's lapels, trying to keep my mind from becoming fuzzy from exhaustion. "What are you doing here and why do you have one of my shirts?"

I stare at him, still getting over being attacked by a hybrid and from the trip I made to find him before taking a deep breath and glaring at him, managing to find some energy. I jerk from his hold and slap him hard across the face as I take deep and unnecessary breaths. Klaus shakes his head before rubbing the area where I hit him as he frowns at me in confusion, not having expected this.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" he asks indignantly as I continue to glare at him.

"That was for the reason I'm here and for almost being fed on by one of your stupid hybrids!" I yell in anger as I throw his shirt to his face and he catches it, still wearing a frown full of confusion as the wind picks up due to my anger. "I have your shirt because it helped me teleport to wherever the hell you are, which is in the middle of this stupid forest!"

"Calm down, Gwen," he says as exhaustion begins to crawl through my body because of the amount of energy I used to teleport at such a long distance and the wind begins to calm down.

"I will not!" I yell since I am still furious at him and for almost being fed on, which is not a pleasant thing. "You lied to me, you asshole!" I push him back with my hands, only making him take a step back, which proves my weakness at the moment.

Klaus stares at me in utter confusion before grabbing my arm gently. "Gwen, calm down," he says and I decide to take deep breaths, finally calming myself. "Now, tell me. What's wrong?"

I shove him away from me as I continue to glare at him. "You lied to me! I told you to _never_ lie to me!" I yell in anger. "I hate lies! You know this! And you killed _her_!"

Klaus' eyes widen slightly since we could always catch on quickly to whatever we meant when we were being subtle. He turns to the hybrid still standing next to us with a nervous look on his face. "Leave us. Tell the others to stay put and wait for further instructions."

The hybrid nods at Klaus and leaves without a second thought, leaving me and Klaus alone in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night. "Care to explain?" I ask with a much calmer tone as he stares at me with a blank face that meant that he was caught by surprise.

"Who told you?" he asks and I freeze.

"It's true, then?" I ask. I wait for his answer, but his continuing silence is enough of an answer. "Rebekah and I had to find out about this through that Petrova bitch! How could you, Niklaus?"

He winces when I use his full name, which only happens whenever I am truly angry and that has only ever happened once, apart from now. "It's true and you have every right to be angry."

"Of course, I do."

"Let me explain…"

"No need, I know the whole story. That bitch couldn't help herself to use it to turn us against you and I hate that you're making me swear so much!"

"Enough!" he yells and I close my mouth, knowing not to push his buttons so much. Klaus paces and for a bit before managing to collect himself and he faces me. "I didn't mean to or…I did, but I don't regret killing her."

"Why?" I ask.

"Mikael hated me and he never held back from displaying his feelings upon my flesh," he says as he stares at the ground. "My mother was always my escape. She took care of my wounds and made my favorite dinner whenever Mikael felt like I deserved a beating. I would talk to her and tell her everything I felt like saying. None of my siblings—not even Rebekah—knew how it truly hurt me that I was the burden of the man I looked up to. She _loved_ me," he says as his eyes begin to water and I sigh, hating to see him like this. "Then, she left me alone to the darkness that consumed me and I couldn't handle it. My father's beatings grew worse, my siblings couldn't do much and, when it came time to seek the comfort that I needed, I was left alone to suffer."

I stare at him, knowing full well that Klaus killing his mother was an atrocity, but I couldn't bring myself to be angry at him, not as angry as I should be. I see him and I see a broken man with no one to rely on and I see he's _so_ broken. Klaus has no one he can fully trust and have an honest conversation without worrying that the person was going to stab him in the back. Klaus found that in me and I really couldn't bring myself to be angry at him as much as I was supposed to, so I will do what I feel I should do.

I walk over to Klaus and not once did he raise his head to look at me. He takes a sharp intake of air when I stand right in front of him, probably expecting me to leave him, which is what any person who was sane would do. I slowly wrap my arms around his neck and bring him close as he gasps in surprise. His arms go around my waist and he grips me tight against him as I lay my head on his shoulder.

"I can't be angry at you, even though you deserve it," I say as his grip tightens and I feel his emotions from his movements from the embrace. He's dreading what I have to say. "You'll have enough to deal with when we see Rebekah…I forgive you, Nik, even though I don't see why I should be forgiving you but you seem like you need it."

He slowly pulls away from me, but keeps his arms around me as he frowns at me while his eyes seem to keep the tears at bay. "You forgive me?" he asks, barely above a whisper as he looks at me with hopeful eyes.

I give him a small smile before nodding. "You've done so much for me, Nik. I won't forget that you killed your own mother, but you're the only thing I have left in this world. You helped me through everything and you didn't have to. Besides, this is _your_ mother and _your_ business to solve with your siblings. I can't stand by you when you decide to confront them, but I will be there for you."

"You are everything Jen was not," he says as he smiles down at me. I will _never_ approve of what he did, but I can understand and that's everything he needs. "She would've used the information to her favor in some way."

"Well, now that we have talked about this, we have another problem," I say as we pull away from the embrace and he frowns at me while I try to look for the right words to say what I need to say with as much sensibility as possible.

"What is it?" he asks, concerned since I can't seem to tell him.

I open my mouth and say the thing that he fears most, "I think they have awoken Mikael."

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**End of chapter! Hope you enjoyed it and please review, i'd like to know what you think about my story and how i am doing so far. Well, hope you enjoyed, review and see ya later!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Here is yet another chapter and the reviews motivate all the way! If there are any opinions or questions concerning my story, then PM me without problem! Like always, enjoy this chapter and I own nothing that belongs to the Vampire Diaries. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 8**

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"When are we going back?" I ask as I follow Klaus through the forest back to his car.

We have been in this forest for some time after having found yet another pack of werewolves that Klaus turned into hybrids with what little of Elena's blood Klaus managed to grab from the hospital before he left Mystic Falls. We had been turning as much werewolf packs as we could, more so now after I told him about Mikael and I am getting sick of it since none of them appear sociable enough to approach, which makes me rule out befriending any of them since Klaus ordered them to be like servants towards me.

"Soon, Cat," he says in irritation since I have been asking him the question over a thousand times for the duration of a day after I found him. "Be patient."

"You know that patience isn't one of my virtues," I say and he chuckles as his phone rings.

He looks at the screen before answering. "Portland is fantastic, once you get over the whiney music and healthy-looking people," he says as he stops and I stand in front of him with a questioning look. He mouths 'Stefan' and I nod. "It's literally a breeding ground for werewolves."

I frown at the look of shock his face is in and I whisper, "What's wrong?"

"What did you say to me?" he asks as I stare at him. He begins to pace, looking like an animal caught in a cage by surprise and can't seem to stand still. "Well, first, I want you to explain to me exactly what happened," he says and a moment of silence passes as Stefan must be explaining himself to Klaus about whatever that caused Klaus to be so nervously angry.

"Nik, what is it?" I whisper, disliking how anxious he looks and he holds his hand up for me to be silent and I do as he asked of me since his face doesn't seem to be in the mood for me pushing for information.

"I wanna see him. I want to see his rotting body for myself," he says into the phone, his tone turning into a sharp and demanding one. "If you're lying to me, Stefan, your compulsion will expose you. So answer with your life. Is what you're saying the truth?" he asks and another moment of silence passes as Stefan answers. "I want to talk to Rebekah."

"Nik," I whisper, worried that something might have happened to Rebekah since I left when she was most vulnerable.

"Rebekah, love," he greets. "What's this I hear about Mikael's tragic run-in with a dagger?" he asks and I watch his eyes close to whatever answer he got, but I cannot tell if it's in relief or disappointment. "She's all right. She found me and convinced me to return home. She said that we three needed to talk and she's royally furious. Do you know what it is about that she wants us to talk about?" he asks, not letting her know that I told him about Elena telling us about him killing his mother. "Well, we'll figure this out when we go home," he says before hanging up, his face furious.

"What's going on, Nik?" I ask as I cross my arms over my chest.

"Well, _they_ said that Mikael's dead…daggered by Elena Gilbert," he says as he looks up at me while I nod.

"You don't believe them," I say.

"Not a word," he says and I nod.

"They convinced Rebekah to help them. I shouldn't have left her alone," I say and I knew Rebekah must've been very angry and hurt to be manipulated. "They're using her grief and anger against her, but they must know that she'll change her mind. Rebekah loves you, Nik. She may be furious with you now, but it's only the anger blinding her and it will leave her. I really want to know how you're going to get her to forgive you; you did kill your mother."

"Right, but Rebekah's too impulsive and it always ends with great consequence for those who try to keep her from her own supidity," he says. "They normally end up catching up to her in some way or another and her mistake at the moment is to trust those who desire my demise."

"What do we do now?" I ask and he smirks, knowing that a plan must be forming in his mind.

"Now, we go to battle," he says. "I will end this tonight."

"And I'll be right by your side," I say as we nod at each other.

* * *

"Well, your extravagancy never ceases to amaze me, Nik," I say as I stand next to him, deciding to not be visible to humans while we watch the huge crowd of people dancing to the band playing on the stage a few feet away from us. I am amazed at how quick Klaus planned this party in the span of almost half a day, but he does have compulsion on his side, not to mention the money. "I thought you said this would be a wake."

He wears a tuxedo that makes him rather handsome, like any other tuxedo that he wears since they make him look like the alpha that he claims to be. My outfit, on the other hand, changed from its usual style and it looks more like a dress for a party, even though humans can't see me so I didn't have to really look nice, but there are a lot of supernatural beings in the party that can. My usual gray leggings are now sheer and not cropped while my ugg boots remain the same. My white tank top and cream cardigan are replaced by a cream, sleeveless, woven dress with a surplice front and a twirly skirt. And—like always—I wear my necklace around my neck and my wavy hair is held half up by a small braid on the back of my head.

His whole plan was set in Tyler Lockwood's home and I found that hybrids are extremely loyal to Klaus and do anything he says without a fault, which is all because of the strong sire bond they developed when he turned them, freeing them from having to turn every full moon as they broke their every single bone. My only role in this plan is to make sure he doesn't die and make as much damage as I can to whatever plan Elena and her friends have created to kill Klaus, which was not going to happen if I have anything to say about it.

"It _is_ a wake, Cat," he says and I frown at him while he wears a smirk. "I'm just celebrating it a way that may not seem so cultured to many."

"I can see that," I say before he walks over to the stage after the band finishes the song they were playing with lights shining from it and smoke dispersed around it.

"Good evening, everyone," Klaus yells into the microphone with a smirk. "I wanna thank you all for being here with me to celebrate. It's been a long time coming."

I shake my head at him with a smile when he glances at me and I look around. I manage to see Stefan standing next to Tyler before the young hybrid left him on his own. I also manage to see Caroline and Bonnie, but I fail to find Rebekah since she said she was going to come to the homecoming dance and her absence causes me to worry about her.

"What's wrong, Cat?" Klaus asks me as he comes to stand next to me with the band continuing to play after he departs from the platform.

"I can't find Rebekah and I see someone else wearing the crown of homecoming queen, which makes me wonder if she's all right since I know that she would have won that," I say after I spotted another girl wearing the crown that Rebekah was supposed to wear.

"Yes, it is quite concerning," he says and I see Stefan approaching us.

"Hello, Mr. Emotionally-Constipated-Stefan," I greet with a smirk that he returns with a forced smile.

"Well, hello to you too," he says before turning to Klaus, who motions us to follow him with me walking between them. "Quite the homecoming," he says to Klaus.

"I've been planning my father's funeral for a thousand years," says Klaus. "Granted, in no version were these people invited, but you get the idea."

"And it makes for a very interesting way for planning a funeral," I say. "It literally gives justice to the saying 'dancing on your grave'," I say and Klaus chuckles at my remark.

"Cat gets the idea," Klaus says while wearing a smirk.

"So, what now? You stop running?" Stefan asks and we come to a stop with me and Klaus standing in front of Stefan.

"Now I reunite my family," he says and I smile at him in surprise.

"Really?" I ask him since he made no mention of this when we were discussing the plan.

Klaus grins at me. "Surprise," he says and I envelope him in a hug that he returns, but pull out of it or he'll be seen hugging nothing but air to the humans.

"That's great, Mouse," I say as I smile up at him and he nods.

"Your family?" Stefan asks and we turn to him. "You mean the people you cart around in caskets?"

"None of that matters anymore," Klaus say and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Apart from the fact that they'll surely kick you where it hurts," I say and he rolls his eyes at me.

"Mikael's gone and I will fulfill my promise to Gwen," Klaus says to Stefan, deciding not to say anything about my comment. "Bygones will be bygones."

"Really great party," the homecoming queen says as she passes by us with her friend.

"I like the band," the homecoming queen's friend says before they disappear into the crowd, but not before we remember that Rebekah's missing.

"Seems the homecoming queen still walks among the living, which leads me to believe Rebekah isn't here," Klaus says as he and I stare at Stefan with hard looks.

"Where is she, Stef?" I ask with a forced smile, angry at the very idea that they harmed her further than she already was.

"I have no idea," Stefan says with a look of innocence that I don't buy. "I thought she was coming with Matt."

"Oh, be honest now, Stefan," Klaus says. "Where's my sister?"

"I said," Stefan begins as he takes a step closer towards Klaus, "I have no idea. Now, would you like me to take you to your father?" Klaus and I share a look before turning back to Stefan.

"Well, it wouldn't be a party without the guest of honor, would it?" Klaus asks him with a smirk.

"Why don't you bring him to us, Stef," I say with a smile. "Nik promised me a dance and we can't just leave the party we're hosting."

Stefan looks away for a second, as if contemplating to do as we asked. "All right," he says. "Perhaps there's something in it for me?" he asks, which causes me and Klaus to frown at one another, not knowing what Stefan might want from us, or just from Klaus. "My freedom from your compulsion."

"Oh, you want your freedom?" Klaus asks.

"Once we see Mikael dead and his weapon destroyed, you'll have your freedom," I bargain as I cross my arms over my chest. "I'll make sure Nik gives it to you."

"It would be my pleasure to give it back to you," Klaus says; he and Stefan smile at one another before the latter leaves.

"That went well," I say before Klaus and I turn around to watch the band play another song.

"I'll get us a drink," he says before disappearing into the crowd.

I decide to get a better view of the band and walk through the crowd and the many humans that don't know of my presence. I come to a stop at the middle of the stairs that led to the backdoor of the mansion of Tyler's family, getting a better view of the band and the people dancing to it; many of them bouncing on their feet with drinks in their hands.

I couldn't help but let my mind wander, thinking about Rebekah and if she's all right. I panic a bit at the thought of Mikael having done something to her, but I also worry at the thought of what Elena and her friends might have done to her because this isn't right. Rebekah's a thousand years old, the only thing that can do any damage on her would be the daggers that desiccate her or white oak.

"Here you go, Cat," Klaus says as he comes to a stop to my right, offering me a red cup with an alcoholic drink and I notice Tyler standing to his right.

"Thanks, Nik," I say as I take a sip from my drink, not feeling any of it but I decide to humor Klaus.

"My mom would freak if she saw all these people here," Tyler says, causing me and Klaus to grin at him since this is a party that an Original would plan; the music's loud, everyone's dancing and the party doesn't seem to want to end any time soon.

"Your mother won't be a problem," Klaus says.

"Where is your mother?" I ask him, even though I really don't know him that well; all I know is that he's Klaus' first hybrid and Mystic Falls' mayor's son.

"I compelled her to go to church and pray for your friends," Klaus says and Tyler huffs a laugh while I roll my eyes at him.

"What are you talking about?" Tyler asks. _He doesn't know about any plan,_ I realize as Klaus and I grin at him.

"You don't know?" I ask him with a frown that he returns as I stand in front of him with Klaus next to me.

"I want you to look around," Klaus says and he points at Bonnie behind him and Tyler follows his finger. "There's Bonnie. There's Elena and Matt and there's your pretty little girlfriend, Caroline," he says after pointing at each one of them before Tyler turns to face him. "Their big dance was wrecked tonight, and who came through with a party? You did."

"That is the quality of a great friend, Tyler," I say as Tyler stares at us while we explain to him what is _actually_ going on.

"But, then, who are all these other people here?" Klaus asks as he motions to the crowd and Tyler looks around, trying to recognize the people that Klaus was referring to.

"I have no idea," Tyler says honestly as he turns to us after having looked around at the raging crowd of teenagers partying. "I've never seen half of these people in my life."

"Well, that's because we invited a few dozen friends of our own," Klaus says and Tyler frowns at us.

"You mean _your_ friends," I say to Klaus, but he simply rolls his eyes at me.

Klaus turns and points at a tan-skinned girl with brown, pixie-cut hair. "That's my friend Mindy. I picked her up along the way in Kansas," he says before turning to Tyler. "Did you know there's an entire bloodline of werewolves in the heartland?" he says and turns back to the crowd. "There's Tony, from North Dakota and let's not forget the Seattle contingent," he says as he points to each hybrid he mentions.

"Hold on," Tyler says as he frowns, beginning to realize what each of these people are. "Are those people…all hybrids?"

"And they also love a good party," I say as I throw away my cup since I'm not up for drinking and I don't really need to.

"They, like you, were sired by me. They wish to serve their master," Klaus says and I roll my eyes at his display of subtle dominance. "So if anyone should so much as make a move against me or Gwen, they may feel obligated to retaliate," he says in all seriousness before giving Tyler a toothy grin.

"Feel free to warn your friends," I say before Klaus and I walk away from him, stepping closer to the crowd.

"You said something about a dance," Klaus says and I shake my head.

"There's no need. You know I can't dance to this," I say with a smile as I motion to the upbeat music and he takes my hand in his while grinning at me.

"I know, but I can make it like the ones you _do_ dance," he says as he puts us in the position as if we were going to dance to a slow song.

"You'll be dancing alone to anyone who sees you," I say with a smile.

"I don't care," he says and begins to move at a fast rate, as if slow dancing but faster and twirls me around, to which I laugh as I make myself visible, not wanting to embarrass him. "Having fun?"

"You really know how to make me have a good time, Nik," I say as he keeps spinning us around while wearing a grin of his own.

I stop laughing when I spot Elena standing where we just were with Tyler and Nik stops moving. He notices me glaring at Elena and turns to see her standing where she is with a red cup in her hand, tapping to the music.

"Can we have a talk with her?" I ask and Klaus takes my hand and loops it around his elbow, leading us to where Elena is.

"Hello, Elena," I greet her as we appear in her line of sight and I couldn't help but notice how tense she is, which causes me to frown since she appeared rather brave when confronting Rebekah.

"Where's your date?" Klaus asks her as we stand in front of her.

"Getting me a drink," Elena says and Klaus snatches a bottle of beer from a teenager that's too drunk to even notice this and offers it to Elena, who only tilts her head in irritation and Klaus shrugs before handing it to a passing girl he winks at, which causes me to roll my eyes at him.

"Seems I have you to thank for Mikael's demise," Klaus says to Elena.

"That was rather brave for a human without any supernatural qualities," I say.

"He came at me," Elena says and I notice something off about her, but I keep it to myself. "I didn't have a choice."

"Still, I'm impressed," says Klaus. "It's not easy for a human to dagger an Original."

"It wasn't the first time," says Elena.

"Right," Klaus says and I raise my eyebrows in confusion. "Elijah," he tells me and I nod in understanding.

"Why are you so nervous, Elena?" I ask her since she doesn't seem to keep still.

"I'm not nervous. I just don't like either of you," she says bluntly.

"Well, I'll get straight to the point, then, shall I, love?" Klaus says and I know he's not amused with Elena's sassiness as I drop my arm from being looped around his. "People have been after me for a thousand years. And I'm always one step ahead. So whatever it is you're thinking of trying. Go for it. Give it your best shot. You won't succeed."

"Why don't you give me and Elena some time alone, Nik?" I ask him with a smile and he nods before leaving us. I turn back to Elena with a glare. "Where's Rebekah?"

"Daggered," she says and I frown.

"Where?" I ask.

"She's upstairs," she says.

"And you're not lying to me?" I ask with a tilted head, not buying her relenting attitude.

"Nope," she says and I narrow my eyes at her, but I really want to know if Rebekah's all right.

"Take me to her," I say and she nods before leading the way into the house.

We make our way through the partying teenagers and up the stairs as I keep a close eye on Elena. I can't help but wonder what's off about her since her whole demeanor and aura has changed to a much older one, but my train of thought stops when she stands in front of a closed door.

"After you," I say and she nods before opening the door before I step in to find it is an empty guestroom, to which I frown. "What the hell?"

"Surprise," I hear 'Elena' say from behind me and I turn to her, her demeanor completely changing, which can only mean that she's not Elena since there is only one other person on this Earth who also has that same face.

"Katerina," I say as I glare at her smirking face, returning her smirk with a fake smirk of my own. "Elena never came to the party. I presume that the oldest Salvatore didn't allow it, which is pathetic how everyone would drop dead for her, especially you."

"Actually, I stepped in for her for my own gain," she says as I lunge at her but I am met with a force that prevents me from leaving the room. "It's a pity that we share so many opinions when we're on different sides of a road that neither of us can cross to join the other."

"Where's Rebekah?" I ask, ignoring after she answered where Elena is.

"I honestly don't know where they threw her corpse," she says and the lights in the room begin to flicker in my anger, but not outside of the room, which meant that I am completely trapped.

I look around the doorway and scoff when I notice the line of salt on the floor of the doorway. "Great."

"After they deal with Klaus, they'll come for you," Katerina says as she goes to leave. "Just giving you the heads up."

"Then I do pity Damon after they try to kill Nik," I say, stopping her and she turns to me with a frown.

"What are you talking about?" she asks as she comes back to stand in front of me but at the other side of the line of salt.

"Well, Nik kinda figured that if he was going down, he wasn't going alone. Even in death, his hybrids have their orders and they're to have Damon Salvatore for dinner," I say and she purses her lips.

"You're bluffing," she says and I chuckle.

"Katerina, I am a horrible liar," I say. "Besides, when have you ever heard of Niklaus lacking drama to everything he does?" I watch her blur away in her vampiric speed as I scoff. "When we'll these kids learn not to go up against a mentally and emotionally unstable Original hybrid?"

* * *

I try to go through the window, but I find it also has a line of salt on the sill, which causes me to groan in annoyance. _Well, they're not so stupid after all, _I think to myself as I walk around the room, looking for any way to get out. I noticed the party isn't raging as loud as it was before I was trapped in this room and it causes me to worry.

I stop in the middle of the room and mentally slap myself before walking over to the bed and pick up a pillow. I stand a few feet away from the doorway and place the pillow on the floor in front of my feet. I smile before kicking the pillow, making it slide on the floor towards the doorway and breaking the line of salt. I huff a laugh in victory before jumping over the scattered salt and walking down the hall, finding the stairs.

I walk down the stairs as I hear yelling, causing me to freeze because I recognize that yell. _Mouse._ I gasp and teleport to the bottom of the stairs. "Nik!" I call for him as I run to where the yelling was coming from. I enter the lounge in front of the front door to find Damon pinning Klaus to the floor with the white oak stake held over his heart, which causes my breath to be caught in my throat. "Nik!" I scream.

Before I take a step forward to help Klaus, Damon is knocked off of Klaus by Stefan with the stake dropping next to Klaus. I run over to him and kneel next to him, sitting him up as I grab the stake. I look up and I see a man giving us his back and Klaus' hybrids groaning in pain while holding their faces on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Damon asks Stefan, who was pinning him down to the floor as the man turns to us.

"Mikael?" I whisper, not sure if he was who I thought he was since I have never seen Mikael in my entire life; I've only heard from him from Klaus when he told me stories about his father.

Suddenly, Klaus takes the stake from my hand and lunges at the man with a yell, dropping to the ground a few feet away from the front door. I stand up and appear to where Klaus fell with the man. Klaus stands up to reveal he staked the man, who was screaming as his skin grayed with veins protruding from his skin before the stake engulfed itself and him in flames.

"That was Mikael?" I ask as I take Klaus' hand in mine, noticing the tears on his face while we watch the body burn.

Klaus wipes away his tears and tightens his grip on my hand—most likely for comfort. "He _was_," he says and I nod, glad that the man who tortured Klaus and his family was dead.

"It's over," I whisper as I look at Klaus to see him nodding in agreement before he leads us back to the entrance of the mansions where Stefan was still pinning down Damon to the floor.

"What the hell did you do?" Damon asked Stefan while giving his little brother a heated glare.

"He's earned his freedom," Klaus says and Stefan releases Damon before standing up to stand in front of us. "Thank you, my friend. **You no longer have to do as I say,**" Klaus says as he locks eyes with Stefan. "**You're free.**"

Stefan closes his eyes in the relief he must be experiencing from being freed from Klaus' compulsion. He turns back to see his brother is no longer there on the floor before turning around to face us.

"Thank you for saving Mouse's life, Stefan," I say gratefully, only to receive a troubled look from Stefan since he betrayed his own brother and that's enough to make him seem as troubled as he looks at this moment.

* * *

After a _very_ long night, Klaus and I find ourselves in the morning walking towards the truck he has his family stowed in, ready to un-dagger them after so many years of being in that death-like sleep and in pain from the daggers that were stabbed into their hearts. At least I am well rested and having returned to wearing the clothes I died in since I am relaxed and have no reason to alter them. Klaus has his phone to his ear as he calls Rebekah after I told him that there is a possibility that she's daggered, but he says she may just be hiding.

"Rebekah, where are you?" Klaus asks, probably speaking to the voicemail again. "Pick up the phone, darling. Daddy's dead. It's time for a family reunion."

"She must be daggered. Katherine said so with some subtle words," I say.

"She could've been tricking you, Cat," he says and I huff in annoyance.

"Nik, listen to me," I say in frustration, but he ignores me and picks up his ringing phone.

"Stefan," he greets as we continue to walk. "Miss me already?" he asks and Stefan must be answering him. "Well, I like to believe I'm a man of my word."

"Yeah, more or less," I mutter and Klaus grins at me.

"Let bygones be bygones," Klaus says as we stand at the back of the truck where the coffins are. "Trust me, resentment gets old," he says as he unlatches the backdoor and pushes it open to reveal it's empty.

"What?" I ask as I look around the back of the truck in shock. "Where are they?"

"No," Klaus says as he turns away from the truck while I continue to stare at it in disbelief. "What are you doing?" he asks and I turn to see him looking around, as if Stefan might be watching us. "I will kill you and everyone you've ever met," he growls into the phone before hanging up.

"Well, he's quite dead," I say with pursed lips.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Well, review and share your opinions like always, don't hold back and see ya later!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey, here's another chapter! I hope you enjoy this one and thanks for the amazing reviews! Hugs, kisses, chocolate or your favorite dessert to all who have reviewed, Faved and Followed!**

**Like always, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious. Remember to never hold back on your reviews and PM me whenever you like.**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

* * *

"Well, we have been _very_ productive this last week and a half," I say, sarcasm ever present in my voice as I walk next to Klaus and we enter the bustling Mystic Grill with one of his hybrids trailing behind us; I think his name is Tony. I am actually getting quite irritated with Klaus' hybrids following us everywhere we go and has them follow me if I decided to take a walk at night when I don't want to just sit still.

I at least feel relieved at the amount of energy that I haven't been using by being visible, isolating myself from humans since I have grown to prefer it that way over the years and I don't use up too much of my energy. Today my clothes are my usual cream, cardy ugg boots, my usual leggings but they aren't cropped, my white tank top and a cream, long-sleeved sweater with a v-neck. I have my necklace around my neck and my hair is braided to the side.

I hear Klaus groan in annoyance since I've been nagging at him for not doing much to retrieve his family back ever since he woke up this morning. "I know patience isn't one of your virtues, but it is one of mine, so _be patient_," he tells me and I cross my arms over my chest with a small pout on my lips, to which he rolls his eyes at me.

"Fine," I huff. "What now?"

"Now, we make ourselves known to our local community," he says as his eyes lock onto something and I follow his eyes to see Elena with Damon, who is playing darts.

"I can't believe we're actually going to live here," I say as a human woman goes right through me, which causes her to shiver a bit before continuing on her way.

"Why aren't you visible?" Klaus asks me and I shrug.

"I don't feel like it. It gets tiring," I say and Klaus shrugs before making his way towards Elena and Damon with me and Tony following behind.

We come to a stop behind Elena and Damon as they have some sort of sweet moment going on. "Don't mind us," I say and they turn to us quicker than normal, which makes me wonder if they broke a bone in their neck.

"Klaus," Elena says as she stares at a grinning Klaus with wary eyes while Damon stands in front of her protectively.

"Gwen," Damon says as he grins at me, faking the enthusiasm on his face. "You guys gonna do this in the Grill, in front of everyone? It's a little beneath you, don't you think?"

Klaus and I frown at one another, but knowing they are talking about Klaus wanting revenge for their roles in trying to kill him. "What are you talking about?" I ask, not understanding why they always think Klaus would kill someone every time he enters a building. _Well, he has done it once in a while but it's still a bit barbaric to think like that about someone all the time, _I think to myself.

"I just came to my local pub to grab a drink with my dear friend and a mate," Klaus says before he turns to Tony. "Get a round, then, would you, Tony?"

"No need to get something for me," I tell Tony and he nods before leaving to get the drinks.

"Surprised you stuck around long enough for happy hour," Damon says as Klaus gives them a toothy grin while I roll my eyes.

"Well, for one, Rebekah seems to be missing," I say as I cross my arms over my chest while glaring at Elena and Damon.

"We need to sort that out," Klaus says as his face turns serious.

"Cute, blonde bombshell, psycho, best friends with a homicidal ghost?" Damon says and I give him a sour look. "Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Well, she's nowhere to be found and she was here last so we can't just leave without her," I say with a bit of sarcasm in my voice as if they're dumb to think we'd leave without her.

"Truth is," Klaus says as he approaches Damon, "we've grown to like your little town. Thinking we might fancy a home here." He takes a dart from Damon's hand. "I imagine you're wondering: How does this affect you? The answer is: Not in the slightest."

"Well, as long as you play nice with us and give us what we want, nothing needs to be blown out of proportion," I say as Damon and Elena glance at me while Klaus stands a few feet in front of the dartboard.

"You have my word," Klaus says with fake seriousness as Elena and Damon turn to him. I know it's a bit insensitive, but I do like how Klaus makes a promise and doesn't break it; he just does what he didn't promise and it just ends up looking like he broke his promise when he didn't.

"What more could you possibly want?" Elena asks Klaus.

"Well, for starters," Klaus says as he stands in front of her, "you can tell me where I might find Stefan."

"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass," Damon says as he once more resumes his role to stand in front of Elena to protect her from the possible threat that is Klaus.

"Well, you see, that is a shame," Klaus says, getting angry as he throws the dart to the board right in the bullseye, embedding it deep into the board with his strength, which—by the way their bodies became rigid—causes Elena and Damon to become nervous.

"You see," I begin as Elena and Damon turn to me, "Stefan stole from us and we'd like to get that dealt with, so you also see why we can't just leave."

"That sounds like your problem," Elena says and turns as Klaus approaches her, probably to lash out at her bold attitude, but is intercepted by a protective Damon, to which Klaus chuckles.

"Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart," Klaus tells Elena with a grin. "And you don't want a homicidal ghost hunting your house now, do you? Unlike me, she doesn't need an invitation."

Elena shoots me a worried look and I grin at her and Damon. "I told you, don't play with fire," I tell her and she looks away.

"Well, let's get a drink, Gwen. It's getting depressing," Klaus says as he leads the way to the bar where Tony is, not bothering to say anything else to Elena or Damon.

"Now what?" I ask as I sit on a stool to Klaus' left with Tony on his right.

"We wait," he says and I groan.

"I hate your plans," I say and Klaus chuckles. "They require too much patience, but it only stresses me out."

"Well, that's one reason why I don't like to involve you in them," he says and I glare at him. "You nag and complain too much. Kol isn't going to find that attractive."

I frown at him at the idea of his brother being attracted to me. "If I recall correctly, he hates Jen and I look _exactly_ like her. Besides, I don't even know him."

"Well, Kol may hate her, but that doesn't mean that he isn't going to want to get to know you," he says as he sips from his drink. "My little brother can be quite impulsive, unstable, twisted and unreasonable."

"I wonder from who he got that from," I say as I stare at Klaus pointedly and I receive a playful glare from him.

"And he can be quite obsessive," he says and I frown at him. At my questioning gaze, he says, "I mean that he doesn't have to hate you, only be obsessive enough with you to not want to hate you."

"Or kill me," I add wryly and he rolls his eyes at me.

"You're already dead," he says and I punch his arm, which only made him chuckle.

"It's not funny," I say with furrowed brows.

"Only a bit," he says. "You're a ghost, therefore, you can't physically harm me more than a human can."

"Oh, jump off the Eiffel Tower and do everyone in Mystic Falls a favor," I say as I cross my arms over my chest in irritation while he continues to chuckle at my expense. I turn around and find that Elena and Damon left the bar, which is a great way to change the subject. "I want to pay Damon a visit."

"Why?" Klaus asks as he continues to grin before taking a sip from his drink.

"Well, he's Stefan's brother and he might actually know where he is; who better to find Stefan faster than his own brother," I say. "We can shake him up to put this show on the road."

Klaus raises his eyebrows as he thinks over what I just said before downing the rest of his drink in one gulp. "I think I'm rubbing off on you, my dear Cat," he says as he grins at me before turning to Tony. "I need you to get this show on the road, mate."

* * *

"Hello, Damon," I greet the back of the eldest Salvatore after Klaus and I entered his home unannounced while he makes himself a drink.

I watch Damon freeze before turning to us with a frown. "I think it's about time we had a drink, don't you?" Klaus asks him as we stand in the living room.

"I'd say we were overdue," Damon says as he grins at me, but I only tilt my head with an annoyed look.

"Well, you've been so busy; what with all your plotting and scheming," Klaus says with a smirk.

"You know me," Damon says with his own smirk, but his was full of bitterness. "Never miss a chance to plan an epic failure," he says as he takes a sip from his glass of whiskey or some other alcoholic beverage.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Klaus says as he approaches Damon. "Who could have guessed your own brother would betray you?"

"Well, I did have a front row seat when your sister lied to you," Damon counters with a satisfied smirk.

"Yeah, well, she's fickle, that one," says Klaus and I can tell he's still angry at Rebekah for siding with Mikael over him, which is not going to be a pleasant thing.

"Besides, we kinda knew she was lying," I say as I come to stand next to Klaus. "And you don't know where she is?"

"That's the thing with younger siblings," Damon says as he chuckles. "You just never know what they're gonna do." Klaus chuckles with Damon, but I can tell it's without mirth. A pregnant pause passes as Damon and Klaus stare at one another while I look around the room. "Drink?" Damon asks as he turns to make a drink for us on the table behind him.

"None for me," I say and Damon nods in acknowledgement while Klaus and I share a look.

Damon turns back to us and hands Klaus a glass with his own in his hand. "Cheers, mate," Klaus says as he and Damon raise their gasses.

"Down the hatch," Damon says before they sip from their drinks, the former finishing his while Klaus still has some in his.

"You know, we've actually got a lot in common, you and I," Klaus says before he walks away to where the couches where and I teleport to sit on one of them.

"Really?" Damon asks and I could tell the feeling of disbelief in his tone. "Well, yeah, maybe we can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother," he says and Klaus grins as he stands in front of me. "Why are you two so mad at him? He stole _something_?" he asks as I hear him pour something, probably more alcohol into his glass.

"My family, the Originals," says Klaus. "I had them daggered, boxed up, awaiting the day when I saw fit to wake them and he went in and pinched the bloody lot," he says and he sips from his drink while Damon chuckles.

"Of course he did," Damon says as he stands in the sunlight that came through the big window in the room. "Ah, such a buzz-kill, my baby bro."

"You know where he is?" I ask and he turns to us, walking closer to stand next to Klaus.

"Well, I'd love to find him," says Damon. "Trouble is, I sure as hell don't work for either of you," he says as he glares from me to Klaus.

Klaus turns to face him while wearing a grin. "You know, your drink stinks of vervain. So I can't compel you," Klaus says and I scrunch up my nose.

"Drinking vervain must've been unpleasant," I say, but I find myself amazed that he had done it, which is an excellent way to avoid being caught by surprise by being compelled by an Original.

"It wasn't," Damon tells me with a wink and I roll my eyes at him.

"There's no point killing you, although you can't seem to stop trying to flirt with my girl and I am prone to change my mind about that," Klaus says with venom in his voice while he glares at Damon.

Klaus and I are friends, but that doesn't mean he can be even more jealous than any boyfriend getting jealous of someone flirting with girlfriend. Through the years, Klaus had responded violently towards any man that tried to flirt with me, which only ended with me pulling him away from a potential murder in a public place. I never argued with him about it since I never initiated the flirting or responded to it, and I find it pointless to be in a relationship with a human. I accept what I am and I won't just drag someone into it that will have a long and happy life.

I never tried or even bothered with trying to have a relationship with a human, let alone a vampire since they would only start the conversation with trying to compel me so they could feed from me and being threatened by a furious Klaus. I came to terms with my status as a ghost quickly and I never had a problem with not being able to have a normal life. _Why bother trying to have something that I lost when I died when I can just enjoy whatever time I have here_ I think to myself and smile.

"You're the one with the most hope of getting what I need," says Klaus. "And yet it would seem a demonstration is in order. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find Stefan and not to flirt with my friend."

"Come on, Nik," I say, not wanting him to kill Damon for flirting with me. "I didn't even respond to the flirting."

"I'm just trying to make a point," Klaus says as he glances at me before turning to Damon. "It seems you people respond best to displays of violence." Klaus takes his phone out of the pocket of his jacket. "Why don't you take this as an example of my reach?"

"You really should get your priorities straight, Damon," I say as Klaus dials on his phone before putting it to his ear. "Especially when dealing with Nik."

"Why's that?" Damon asks him with narrowed eyes.

"There he is," Klaus says after his call was picked up. "So that thing I told you to do. Why don't you go ahead and get on with it?"

"I would call Elena if I were you," I say and Damon's face drains of color before leaving his glass on the coffee table and walking away. "Or you can just head over to her house," I call and I hear the door open and shut before looking at Klaus grinning at me. "Now _that_ was productive."

"Thank you, Cat," Klaus says as he downs the rest of his drink before leaving the glass on the coffee table next to Damon's. "Now, let's go check on the progress of our home."

* * *

"Nik!" I call as I stand on one of the many unfinished areas of the mansion that he had construction men to build for us to live in.

I feel a bit claustrophobic at how many walls there are in this _huge_ mansion with few windows as I hear the noise of power tools being used everywhere I go. There were ladders and constructions tools everywhere as men went about to continuing finishing working the construction of this mansion that Klaus is making for when we get his family back and wake them up.

"Why are there so many walls? I feel like I'm in jail," I say.

I turn as Klaus enters the room I'm in with Mindy walking beside him. "Compel the men to open up this wall," Klaus tells Mindy. "We need sun. I want a fortress, not a dungeon." He then turns to me. "Happy?"

"A tad," I say. "I still don't have a room with an armchair." I cross my arms over my chest as I feel someone's familiar presence enter the room.

Klaus and I look over to see Tyler looking around as he stands in front of us. "There he is, the man of the hour," Klaus says as Mindy leaves the room while Tyler approaches Klaus and I stand to the side.

"So everything went okay?" Tyler asks.

"Tony ran down Alaric instead of Jeremy, but apples, oranges. Message lands the same," Klaus says and I frown at him.

"I thought we were only going to maim, not kill," I say and Klaus gives me a sheepish look.

"I might have altered your plan a little bit," Klaus says and I glare at him.

"You said you were only going to send a warning," Tyler says since he also thought the message wouldn't result in someone being killed, but I can't be too surprised with how Klaus sent the message, I'm too used to him.

"And I did, an effective one, so you both need to stop complaining," he tells me and Tyler. "Elena's family suffers; she's motivated to get me what I want."

"I didn't think we'd actually have to kill anyone," Tyler says and Klaus sighs at Tyler's emotions being too involved in the situation.

"Welcome to being with Nik all day long," I say as I send Klaus a playful glare. "It's a party that never ends."

"Tyler, mate," Klaus says as he locks eyes with Tyler and I know that Tyler isn't in danger of Klaus killing him in frustration since he's his first hybrid, "what you're feeling is the remnant of a guilty conscience."

"He's asking you to get over it," I translate and Klaus sends me another playful glare before turning back to Tyler.

"End of the day," Klaus says as he puts a hand on Tyler's shoulder, leading him to the doorway of the room, "human life is just a means to an end; our means to our end. You'd do well to remember that."

Tyler nods at Klaus before taking his leave and Klaus turns to me with a grin that I counter with a scowl. "You do know I was human, right?"

"No, you were a doppelgänger," Klaus says as he approaches me. "You were never a normal human."

I sigh and look down, knowing he's right. "Would I have been a means to an end if I was still alive?" I ask as I look up at him.

"Well, I don't think it would've been much different," he says with a grin. "The only difference is that, if you were alive, you'd be an even bigger magnet for danger," he says and I chuckle at him, knowing that he was right again.

"Well, I hate saying that you're right…" I begin.

"I am," he says smugly and I glare at him with a smile.

"But I am not going to say it," I say and he rolls his eyes at me, to which I chuckle. "Do you think Damon found Stefan?"

"Most likely," Klaus says as he turns to stare out one of the few windows in the room. "I think we're going to be dealing against them both."

"Well," I say as I stand next to him, staring out at the setting sun, "there's not one moment of boredom in our lives."

"You are most right, Cat," he says and his phone rings. He looks down at the screen and turns away from me, which causes me to frown as I follow him with my eyes, but I can't hear his side of the conversation.

"Who is it?" I ask and he waves me off with his free hand, which causes me to stare at him in irritation. I wait for him to end his conversation and he comes over to me while still staring at his phone. "What is it?"

"It was Elena," he says and I frown, not knowing why Elena would call him.

"What did she want?" I ask with furrowed brows.

"She wants to see me," he says and begins walking away from me. "I'm meeting with her at the Salvatores' house."

"I'm coming," I say as I go to follow him but he blurs over to stand in front of me with a determined look.

"You're not," he says and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Why not?" I ask.

"You'll just want to kill her," he says and I look away, not wanting to stare at his eyes when he thought he was right.

"I promise I won't." I say as I look back to him.

"You're staying, end of discussion," he says and he turns to leave, leaving me on my own. _He didn't make me promise anything,_ I think with a toothy grin.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Klaus asks through clenched teeth and I turn from the front door of the Salvatore home to give him an innocent smile, having been waiting for him to arrive after having waited for him to arrive, which was now past dusk.

"What do you mean?" I ask, giving him my most innocent look while he glares at me as he stands in front of me.

"I told you to stay at home," he says and it was now my turn to glare at him.

"You said to stay and ended the discussion before even making sure I _promised_ to stay," I say and he closes his eyes, realizing that he did forget to make me give him my word.

"You sly little vixen," he says as he opens his eyes and gives me a forced smile.

"It was the easiest moment of my life to avoid making a promise to you," I say with a smile. "I didn't even have to do much; you just walked right out without a second glance."

"Well, since you're already here, try not to kill her, even though you don't have the heart to take a life," he says and I nod. "She still has blood that I can use to make more hybrids and I don't want her dead anytime soon."

"Fine," I huff. "But if she comes onto me first, I will retaliate."

"Fine," Klaus says before he knocks hard on the door as we continue to glare at one another with my hands on my hips.

We wait a little before the door is answered and we both turn to see Elena staring at us. "Thank you for coming," she greets Klaus before he pushes past her and I follow behind, giving Elena a smile. "I thought you were coming alone."

"I thought so too," Klaus says without turning to look at her and I give Elena an irritated look.

"Deal with it," I say to the both of them.

"Now, I trust you have news of Stefan," Klaus says as he turns to her.

"I couldn't find him," she says and I roll my eyes.

"Then, why are we here?" I ask with my arms crossed over my chest.

"I have something else," she says and she motions us to follow her.

She leads the way as Klaus and I share a wary look as we descend some stairs, leading to a more worn-looking basement of the house, which I could tell was not changed from the time it was built, figuring that it must've been kept for certain reasons. Elena comes to a stop in front of a heavy-looking door that looks like it was made to seal someone or something inside the room. She pushes the door open and my eyes widen when I see Rebekah's body on the floor facedown with a dagger in her back.

Her skin is gray and she has veins protruding across her body, meaning that she's in her death-like sleep, suffering the effects of the dagger. By the looks of it, she must've been daggered when she was getting ready for homecoming. Her phone was next to her body with a blanket covering her legs.

"Rebekah," I whisper as I kneel next to her body. I look up and glare at Elena, who takes a step back. "If Nik hadn't made it clear that he wants you alive, you would be ten feet underground."

"My poor sister," Klaus says from the doorway. "I can't turn my back on either of you for a moment," he says referring to me and Rebekah, to which I send him a glare that meant that now is not the time.

"You have Rebekah," Elena says, to which Klaus and I look at her while she stares at Klaus. "A deal is a deal."

I frown at her before frowning at Klaus. "What deal?"

"The life of my sister in exchange for your brother?" Klaus says to Elena as he stands on the other side of Rebekah's body while keeping his eyes on her and I realize that Klaus' message did get through, even though it was a bit extreme. "I'd say that's a bargain. Consider him spared."

"You should know," she says as she glances at both of us before settling to stare at Klaus. "I was the one that daggered her. When she wakes, she'll come after me."

"And how is that a problem?" I ask and she gives me a glare that I challenge with my own, which causes her to shuffle on her feet uncomfortably since she experienced one of my episodes of losing control, but that doesn't seem to deflate her foolish bravery.

"Gwen," Klaus warns and I scoff before looking down at Rebekah, moving a look of her hair from her desiccated face. "I can control Rebekah. Besides, I still need your help finding Stefan."

"I told you, I don't know where he is," Elena says and I grab the hilt of the dagger, amazed at how stuck it is in her back, but I manage to pull it out with a grunt.

"You're lying," I say, handing over the dagger to Klaus' extended hand. I know that she must also know where Stefan is. "Your lack of argument against mine says so."

"Fortunately, you have no shortage of loved ones," says Klaus as he twirls the dagger in his hands while I remove as many hair from Rebekah's face. "If I don't find my family, the question you should be asking yourself is who's gonna die next? Bonnie? Caroline? Damon?" I know he must be smirking at her by the tone of his voice. "It's only a matter of time before Stefan gives me what I want."

"He doesn't care about me anymore," Elena says and I look up to see her eyes still locked with Klaus'. "You made sure of that. You turned him into a monster. Now he's your problem. And just so you know, I'm not the only one Rebekah wants dead. She knows what you did to your mother. She knows that you killed her."

"I know you told her," he says and Elena frowns at him in surprise.

"You think I didn't tell him when I left after you told me and Rebekah?" I ask her and she looks to me, to which I smile at her. "We'll deal with Rebekah and fix this. Instead of trying to make a wedge between us, why don't you figure out who's going to die next?"

"Run along now," Klaus tells her with a grin. "We'll let ourselves out." He says and Elena leaves us without another word.

"What now?" I ask him for the umpteenth time today.

"Can you take her with you?" he ask and I nod since I can take anything with me when I teleport, as long as whatever I am taking with me is dead. "Put her on the table where I had the blue prints of the mansion."

I nod at him before I turn over Rebekah, having her face up before grabbing onto her gray shoulders. I close my eyes and picture the room Klaus was talking about, feeling myself become light and I know I disappeared from the dungeon in the Salvatore home.

* * *

"Took you long enough," I say from where I sit on the edge of the table where I had placed Rebekah to rest on, making sure she was decent and as clean as possible as Klaus enters the room.

"I needed to think," he says as he approaches the table and I jump off it to stand next to him while staring down at Rebekah's desiccated body. "Here we are, Rebekah. Home, sweet home."

"Finally," I say and Klaus nods.

"It only took a thousand years. And to think I was counting on you being here with me," he says as he looks down at her, to which I frown at him. "But that's all ruined now, isn't it?" he looks down and frowns, to which I follow his eyes to see Rebekah's hand twitching as it begins to come back to semi-life and color begins to return to her skin.

"Won't be long now," I say with a smile, finally having Rebekah wake up from her death-like sleep.

Klaus leans closer to her. "I'm so sorry," he says as he gently strokes her gray cheek, "sister. We'll meet again one day." Suddenly, he stabs the dagger into her chest, causing me to gasp in surprise.

"Nik, what are you doing?" I ask in outrage, feeling a sting on my chest where Klaus daggered Rebekah. "Why did you do that, Nik?"

"I don't have time to deal with Rebekah," he says and I could hear his voice breaking, but I didn't care at the moment.

"Why do you do this?" I ask and he turns to me with a frown. "Every time you say you'll un-dagger them, you find an excuse to not do it."

"They're _my_ family and I do what I want with them," he says and I could see he was keeping his temper in check.

"I _feel_ their pain, Nik!" I ground out, trying to have him understand that death—even being daggered—is something that is sensitive to me when it's in the vicinity. "I feel the daggers in their chests every time I look at them. It's not easy for me. You saw how I was when I was invisible to everyone; imagine what it's like to be submerged in eternal darkness and pain, never knowing when you'll wake up and the things you've missed."

I breathe deep as I watch Klaus look down, contemplating my words, but I know that he won't wake Rebekah or any of his siblings. "Let's get the rest back and then we'll deal with waking them," he says and leaves the room, to which I sigh.

I will never know how to explain exactly why I have this need to want to get those daggers out. I don't know if it's because I pity them or I know of their pain or my need to help others, but I know that I can't leave those daggers where they are and Klaus will have to forgive me for wanting to un-dagger them. _Well, it seems I'll have to take matters into my own hands if they aren't un-daggered anytime soon,_ I think to myself as I look at Rebekah.

* * *

**Well, that's the end of the chapter, obviously. I hope you enjoyed it and remember to review and voice your opinions to me; they inspire me and i take them into account if I can. Well, see ya later!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Here's yet another chapter! I thank you all for the reviews, Faves and Follows, including your support and enjoyment of this story!**

**Like always, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, only that which is obviously not. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

* * *

I sit on one of the comfy high chairs in the kitchen island as I read the newspaper while purposely ignoring Klaus, who is cooking breakfast as I read a most interesting section on the newspaper of Mystic Falls. It has been some weeks after Klaus decided to leave Rebekah daggered in a coffin and I haven't spoken more than a sentence to him since, which I knew was starting to annoy him. All I have done is become quite interested with the many books he had while rambling around the town when I am too bored.

At least the kitchen was one of the many rooms that was done being constructed and decorated, even though I don't need anything from it since I am not required to eat due to my state; although, I can but I'll never feel filled or feel the food go down to my stomach. The mere taste of food is something that I will always miss, not feeling some mass drop to my stomach and possibly disappearing into thin air, which is what happens whenever I do eat as I am. I will always miss many things I did as a human, but I can't complain since others have it worse than me; I think.

I see a plate filled with scrambled eggs and bacon to the side be placed on the counter in front of me, causing me to look up at Klaus with a raised eyebrow as he stares at me with pleading eyes. Those eyes have altered between anger, frustration, annoyance and other emotions throughout the span of me giving Klaus the cold shoulder. I could see his hopeful eyes, willing me with silence to him since yelling at me only results in me disappearing to another room, hearing him throw a tantrum; on an another situation, I would've yelled back at him. Now he's resigned to try a much gentler approach, which I have to say that it is working, but I won't tell him that; it might give him the advantage whenever we will have another argument.

"I'll wait until you feel like you want to talk to me," he says as he places a fork on my plate and a glass of juice next to it, "even if I have to wait years or decades for you to do so." He places a vase with a rose in it next to the glass of juice, which causes me to stifle a chuckle, noticing the grin appearing on his face since he heard me.

"Really?" I ask as I drop the newspaper on the counter, which I wasn't even really reading to begin with. "That is so cheesy," I say as I look at the breakfast he prepared for me and I turn to see him grinning at me. "I'm still mad, Nik. You can do this to any shallow girl and it will work, but not with me."

"And I will continue to _try_ to grovel to earn your forgiveness, even though I will _never_ grovel," he says in all seriousness, to which I smile at him. He walks over to me and hugs me from behind, wrapping his arms around my shoulders while placing his chin on top of my head. I sigh as I feel the front of his body against my upper back, relishing in the feeling of home he has to me. "You _are_ my family and I would die for you, but I'd rather not."

"And there goes your sweet moment, Mouse. And I love you, too," I say while smiling before he places a quick kiss to my temple. He untangles himself from me and goes to grab a glass from the cupboard above the sink before grabbing a bottle and pouring the contents into it. "I'll be in the next room," he says before leaving, taking the bottle with him.

I look down and begin eating my breakfast, trying to taste it like I always do, but having no results whatsoever. I don't even feel or taste the juice as it goes down my throat, disappearing into nothing. At least I can continue to try and imagine the taste of things, even though they do nothing for me. Food is something I no longer crave, but I can eat it if I feel like pretending to be human, I just don't need to.

I frown as I feel another presence enter the mansion, which is odd since the workers aren't working today and the hybrids have scattered to do Klaus' errands, leaving only me and Mindy, who is Klaus' second-in-command. Well, there is also Klaus.

I stand up after finishing my breakfast, leaving the dishes in the sink on the other side of the island before leaving the room to look for Klaus. I appear on the doorway of a room with Klaus giving me his back and my eyes widen in surprise when I see Stefan standing on the other doorway of the room, leaning against it with a smug look about his whole demeanor and it can only mean that Klaus will be angry in the end.

I frown. "Stefan?"

Stefan looks up at me and smiles wryly. "Hello, Gwen."

"What are you doing here?" I ask as I stand next to Klaus, who is standing next to a table with work tools and papers on it. "We have been wondering where you've been. Are you ready to give us back the coffins?"

"Well, no. I came by to let you know that I don't like your hybrid friends," Stefan says as he pushes away from the doorway, walking closer to me and Klaus while the latter fills his glass again with the contents in the bottle he had taken from the kitchen. "They're everywhere; kind of like flees. I want them gone."

"Why? Are they close to finding something you shouldn't even have dared to take in the first place?" I ask Stefan with a mocking frown that Stefan returns with a smug grin.

"I also kind of like having my hybrids around," Klaus says and Stefan hums in annoyance. "You know, I'm hurt. I hoped that, uh, I'd free you and we'd pick up where we left off. But here you are, guzzling vervain like the rest of them, I'm sure. So much for friendship," he says before taking a sip from his drink.

"Friends don't strip friends of their free will," says Stefan.

"He's got a point," I say as I give Klaus a pointed look, receiving a roll of his eyes in exchange.

"Okay, granted, yeah, that was a little extreme, but I get a little moody," says Klaus. "Just ask Gwen or my siblings."

"Understatement of the century," I say. "Now that Nik's mentioned it, where are his siblings, Stefan?"

"Isn't it time you handed them over?" Klaus asks with narrowed eyes.

"Klaus, Gwen," Stefan says as he approaches me and Klaus, to which the latter intercepts from getting any closer to me, "get your hybrids out of Mystic Falls or I will remove them myself."

I close my eyes, knowing that this will only make Klaus angrier than he already is. "You see," Klaus begins as he tries to control his temper, which is practically emanating from his entire being, "if you continue to threaten me and Gwen, I'm gonna be forced to retaliate; kill people. And it'll get messy again."

Stefan shrugs with a smug look. "Do whatever you want, I don't really care."

"Really?" I ask, wanting to know how far off the edge he is.

"You're right, Gwen," says Stefan. "Maybe I do. Yeah. Yeah, maybe I care so much that I drop Elijah in the Arctic."

"You wouldn't dare," I say with a glare.

"Well, maybe I'd be willing to lose one brother if it meant killing yours," Klaus says, playing along Stefan's scenario.

"You really don't want to play this game, Stefan," I say.

"Really?" says Stefan, glancing at me.

"At the end of the day, you must know that you will lose," I say, trying to avoid anyone from suffering without needing to. "There's no need to stretch this petty argument than it already has been stretched."

"Try me. Let's find out," Stefan says as he meets Klaus' challenging gaze with his own, which causes Klaus to chuckle.

"Is everything okay?" Mindy asks as she enters the room to stand next to Stefan, ready to defend her sire from any threat.

"Everything's fine, Mindy," Klaus tells her. "Stefan was just leaving after failing to make his point."

Stefan nods at Klaus, as if ready to take his leave. The next second, I hear a cracking sound and Mindy's body is on the floor with her head a few feet away from her body. I gasp and cover my mouth with my hands in surprise as a lump grows in my throat, feeling a twitch in my neck and noticing that Stefan had beheaded her with a wrench from the table while Klaus stares at him with a blank face that is filled with surprise.

"Well," Stefan begins as he turns to us while I lower my hands from my mouth a bit, my eyes still locked on Mindy's body, "one down. You may want to, uh, send the rest of them away before it gets messy again." He throws the wrench on the table before taking his leave, not knowing the heated glare Klaus was giving him.

* * *

"You all right, Cat?" Klaus asks me from where I stood, which is the same spot I was in from when Stefan beheaded Mindy. Klaus places a comforting hand on my shoulder, bringing me out my trance.

I nod. "Yeah, I'm just getting to grips that it actually happened."

"It'll be all right, Cat," he says as he puts an arm around my shoulders.

"I felt her leave her body," I say. "It was quick, so at least she didn't feel much pain."

"What do you want me to do with her head?" Daniel—Klaus' new second-in-command—asks as he stands next to us with a bloody bag in his hand that he showed to us, which caused me to lean closer into Klaus' side to not look at the bloody bag, feeling him rub my arm.

"Just get rid of it, burn it," Klaus says with a sharp tone. "I honestly don't care, Daniel. I just want you to get it away from Gwen, who saw her get beheaded and you're practically shoving it into her face."

I could practically feel a growl coming from Klaus as he continues to rub my arm in comfort while hearing Daniel walk away before I pull back from Klaus' side. I release a deep sigh, calming myself as Klaus pecks my temple in comfort before dropping his arm from my shoulders while I get the image of Mindy being beheaded out of my head.

"It'll pass, Cat," Klaus tells me and I nod, getting control of myself.

"You called?" I hear Tyler's voice ask and look up to see him entering the room. "I'm here." He looks down and notices the stain of blood on the floor to his side where Mindy's body had lifelessly fallen. "What happened?"

"What happened is Stefan had two paths in front of him," says Klaus. "He chose the one that made me angry. I need you to help me do something about that."

"Can't you just leave me out of it?" Tyler asks and I notice that he must be questioning his sire-bond to Klaus, even if it's a little bit, which means his friends figured out he has a sire-bond with Klaus.

"What would be the point in that?" Klaus asks and he's responding less explosive to the situation, causing me to frown since he would normally go and kill someone important to Stefan or Elena.

"Seriously, man, can't you just get one of your other hybrids to do your bidding?" Tyler asks and I frown at him. "I lost my friends, my girlfriend-"

"Caroline, right?" I ask, needing confirmation, and Tyler nods.

"Well, about her," Klaus begins as he stands in front of Tyler, "I need you to bite her."

"What?" Tyler asks, surprised at what was being asked for him to do and I'm not surprised Klaus would ask him to do such a thing.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Klaus says with an icy tone, finally showing a _bit_ of how angry he is, and Tyler didn't notice this.

"A hybrid bite would kill a vampire," Tyler reasons.

"Yeah, I know exactly what it'll do," Klaus says, reining in his temper. "Uh, Stefan pushed me too far, so I'm pushing back."

"I'm not biting Caroline," Tyler argues and I sigh, knowing that the sire-bond will affect him; it always will and it'll make Tyler do anything to please his sire.

"Tyler," Klaus begins. "I've been supernaturally blessed with the good fortune of a sire-bond to you, so one could consider this me putting your undying loyalty to the test."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tyler says through gritted teeth as he goes up to Klaus in a challenging pose, causing me to take a step towards them ready to push Tyler away from Klaus. "I'm not hurting Caroline."

"All right," Klaus says as he turns away from Tyler to stand next to me. "I'm disappointed. But it's your choice, free will and all that. I'll find another way to strike at Stefan. You can go now."

Tyler looks down with a frown before taking his leave. I wait for him to leave the mansion before huffing. "You played the guilt card," I say as I turn to Klaus and see him nod.

"Yes, and he will bite her, for his love isn't strong enough to fight the sire-bond," he says and I frown at him.

"How do you know how strong their love is?" I ask him.

"I'm presuming," he says as he turns to me. "We'll just have to wait and see if he does love her enough to fight the sire-bond."

"Love is one of the purest things you'll find on this earth, Nik," I say, knowing what he means.

"Exactly," he says. "I know it's a low blow to have him bite her, but, since love is something that you really can't fight, then he has nothing to worry about. I just want to see if it's strong enough to have him break the sire-bond."

"We'll just have to wait and see," I say.

"Now, would you care to accompany me to the Council meeting?" he asks and I frown at him.

"You're going to a Council meeting?" I ask and he nods. "Why?"

"To get to know the people who run this town," he says with a smirk.

"And have them eating out of your hand?" I ask, to which he chuckles.

"More or less," he says and then it's my turn to chuckle.

"Well, I think I've had enough of parties, so you're on your own," I say and he pouts, trying to get me to go, but I won't be swayed.

"Oh, come on," he says. "I'll buy you a chocolate milkshake."

"Sorry, Mouse, but you're still on probation," I say before walking away.

"I know you want that chocolate milkshake!" he says and I laugh before going to his library.

* * *

I read one of Klaus' many scrolls of history concerning the moon stone, enjoying the detail of the writing and the images that he most surely did himself. I sit on one of the chairs in the island in the kitchen while going over them, managing to understand the ones that were written in English. I trace the tip of my fingertips on the parchment of paper where a drawing was and I knew that Klaus drew it; I smile, always liking anything Klaus draws, especially the things he draws for me on my birthdays, but I have him stow them away since we move a lot.

Suddenly, the front door is opened loudly, to which I stand up on alert. I frown as I make my way out of the kitchen and meet Tyler in the hallway, watching him wear a panicked look while panting. I can tell that he ran all the way here from wherever he was, which seemed to be far from the mansion.

"Tyler?" I ask with a frown as he stands in front of me.

"Please, help me," he pants and I stare at him in confusion.

"What's wrong?" I ask, worried that something might've gone very, very wrong.

"I bit her," he says and I sigh while closing my eyes for a second, realizing that Klaus' sire-bond was too strong for Tyler and his love for Caroline wasn't strong enough to overshadow it. "I bit her…I don't know what came over me. I bit her."

"You bit Caroline?" I ask him and he nods as I notice his eyes glazing over.

"_Please,_" he stresses as he grabs my arms. "Please, I'll do _anything_, just save her. I'm begging you."

I put my hands over his and remove them from my arms, stroking them to calm him down. "It's all right, Tyler. I just need you to calm down, okay?" I tell him and he nods as he takes a deep and semi-calming breath.

"Please," he begs and I notice the distress and agony in his eyes, apart from the fact that it was actually emanating from his whole being. "I love her."

I nod at him with a smile. "Do you have Nik's phone number in your phone?"

He nods as he quickly pulls his phone out of the pocket in his jacket, handing it to me. I find Klaus' number and dial it before placing it to my ear. "Nik?" I ask after the ringing stops at the third time.

"_Gwen?_" I hear him ask. "_What's wrong?_"

"Tyler bit Caroline," I say as I watch Tyler pace in front of me. "He's panicking and is on the edge of a mental breakdown. I think this night has gone too far, don't you think?"

"_I know,_" he says, surprising me at his quick acknowledgement. "_I'll fix her._"

"Right, I'll meet you at her home," I say before the line goes dead.

Tyler turns to me, hope evident in his eyes. "He'll help her?"

I nod with a smile before giving him his phone back. "We can go over and make sure she's fine."

"I can't," he says and I frown as he stares at the floor.

"Why?" I ask.

"I hurt her," he whispers. "I can't be anywhere near her as long as I'm sired to Klaus."

I sigh, knowing where this is going. "I know you're worried about her, Tyler. But feeling guilty isn't going to solve anything at the moment; it'll only make more harm than good."

"I can't," he says as he locks eyes with me and I notice the sorrow in them. "Tell her that I'm sorry."

I nod at him with a smile before he turns and leaves the mansion, leaving behind the girl that he claims to love on her deathbed, but guilt and regret seem to rule him at the moment. I hope he overcomes his guilt, at least for Caroline's sake.

* * *

"Well, I knew that something eventful had to happen," I say as I watch Klaus climb the porch steps of Caroline's house after giving Klaus enough time to arrive to Caroline's house so I can teleport here using him. "You better go in there and cure her or I will. Don't forget that you're not the only one able to cure a werewolf's bite."

"I will," he says as he comes to a stop at the front door with me beside him, having a look at the house from the window on the door with drapes on the sides. "I honestly gave doubt to the thought that he was going to go through with it."

"Well, he did tell me he loved her," I say as he rings the doorbell.

We both wait for a minute before we see Matt come from another room, taking a look at us before he approaches the front door with a determined glare. I knew that he is not very happy about this whole situation by the look on his face and he seems to be placing the blame on Klaus. _Who wouldn't,_ I think.

Matt opens the door and I say, "Tyler came to see me. He was panicking and said that Caroline was in trouble."

"He made him do this to her," Matt says as he glares at Klaus, noticing that the human is trying to stay calm and not snap at us. "He wouldn't do something like this."

"I'm here to help, Matt," Klaus says, sounding sincere, which is something rare and it's where it shows that he does care, even if it is on circumstances that don't benefit him. "My blood will heal her," he says and I notice a middle-aged woman with short blonde hair and dressed in a police uniform appear from where Matt came from, standing a few feet behind Matt. "Please, ask the sheriff to invite me inside."

"I know how this game works," the blonde-haired woman—Caroline's mom, most likely—says as she approaches us. "You want something in return."

"Just your support," Klaus says as Matt steps aside to give us a better view of the sheriff. "I could have Gwen enter the house, but she won't because we're here to help."

"In other words, we want nothing," I say, which is what Klaus did mean.

Klaus and I wait as the sheriff seems to be in a debate, clearly not wanting to invite Klaus into her home, but her answer seems to have already been answered. "Come in," she says, to which Klaus and I respond with a nod before stepping inside.

The sheriff leads us to a room where Caroline must be in, leaving us to enter on our own before walking away, probably wanting to give her daughter some privacy. Klaus stepped into the room while I remained on the doorway, seeing Caroline resting on her bed while she was drenched in a thin sheet of sweat and keeping her eyes on both of us.

I notice her nightstand and frown at the 'Happy Birthday' cards, which leads me to believe that today is her birthday. I sigh, feeling bad that she was bitten and sentenced to death by her own boyfriend. I figure that she was never expecting this to happen to her, let alone from someone she's supposed to trust.

"Are you going to kill me?" Caroline asks in a low voice, scared that she is right and that Klaus is going to kill her, but I have to say that it's a bit extreme of her to say such a thing. Klaus may be cruel and many other horrible things, but he still holds a side that he reveals more often when he's with me.

"On your birthday?" Klaus asks in disbelief as he stares at her with an indignant look. "You really think that low of me?" he asks her and I frown at him, wondering why would he care what she thinks of him.

"Yes," Caroline responds without wavering, causing me to raise my brows at her bravery and a bit angry since she practically insulted Klaus.

Klaus approaches her as she closes her eyes, not knowing what he is going to do to her and he only pulls back the blanket from covering her left shoulder, revealing the bite Tyler had given her, which is oozing blood and seems to still be throbbing.

Klaus sighs at the sight as he pulls his hand back. "That looks bad," he says and I hold back a huff of mocking laughter that wants to leave me. "My apologies; you're what's known as collateral damage. It's nothing personal."

"Seriously?" I hiss at him and he shrugs at me, not seeming to know what else to say as Caroline watches us interact with one another.

Klaus turns back to her and reaches his hand to touch the bracelet she has on her right arm that is pillowing her head, twirling one of the charms with his finger. "I love birthdays," Klaus says and I huff.

"Understatement of the century, Nik," I say as Caroline looks at me. "You should've seen him on my birthday. He was the animal of the party." Caroline's lip twitches upwards a bit, but hides it quickly.

"I was drunk," Klaus defends himself and I roll my eyes at him before turning back to Caroline. "And I do love birthdays."

"Yeah? Aren't you, like, a billion or something?" she asks him and Klaus manages to give her a small grin.

"You have to adjust your perception of time when you become a vampire, Caroline," he tells her, having her full attention. "Celebrate the fact that you're no longer bound by trivial human conventions. You're free."

"No," she says as she stares at the ground, seeming to be gathering courage before looking up at him. "I'm dying."

Klaus sits on the edge of her bed, facing her before folding his hands on his lap. "And I could let you…die. If that's what you want. If you really believe your existence has no meaning. I thought about it myself, once or twice, over the centuries, truth be told," he says and I frown at how open he's being with her, which is quite surprising and odd.

Never in my years with Klaus have I ever seen him be like this with anyone, let alone someone he doesn't even know. This makes me wonder why he is doing this since he wanted to send Stefan a message by killing someone close to him and Elena, but he is actually giving Caroline a choice. I think about the fact that he may be smitten with her since it cannot be for any other reason. Klaus is cruel and he would have let her die if it meant that Stefan would give him his coffins back, but he seems to actually take in consideration her choice.

Apart from that, he shared something that is very personal and that it wasn't easy for him to tell me. He actually revealed a small—but very big—part of his long life to her. I realize I am actually seeing Klaus being human with another being that is not me or his family, which is something I thought I'd never witness, even if I have the rest of my immortality while waiting for it to happen.

Klaus leans closer to Caroline. "But I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a whole world out there waiting for you. Great cities and art and music," he says as he eyes the bracelet with a criticizing look before looking locking eyes with her. "Genuine beauty. And you can have all of it. You can have a thousand more birthdays. All you have to do is ask."

I could tell that Klaus' words hit home with Caroline as the emotions dance in her face. "I don't want to die," she whispers and I smile softly, glad that she chose life.

Klaus rolls up the sleeve of his right arm before gingerly grabbing Caroline behind her neck to have her lean against him. The gentleness in his actions prove that he does seem to be quite taken with her and I grin at the idea of Klaus actually being attracted to someone he wasn't going to sleep with for one night, drain her of blood and discard after he's done.

"There you go, sweetheart," I hear him whisper to her as he puts his arm close to her mouth. "Have at it." I hear the tearing of flesh, telling me that Caroline bit his arm. "Happy birthday, Caroline."

I hear Caroline sigh in relief and wait for Klaus to finish placing Caroline back on her bed after she had her fill, tucking her in with gentleness that amazes me before he walks over to me, his eyes lingering on Caroline for a bit more. "You go, I need to tell her something that Tyler wanted me to deliver," I tell him, to which he nods.

"I'll see you back home," he says and I nod before he leaves me alone with Caroline.

I turn to the said girl, seeing her eye me warily before I offer her a small smile. I take a deep breath before pushing away from the doorway and walking over to her bed, taking a seat where Klaus had been and smiling at her.

"Tyler wanted me to tell you that he's sorry for what happened," I say and she scoffs.

"Yeah, instead of telling me himself," she says as she chuckles bitterly.

"He didn't seem like he could, Caroline," I say. "Guilt is no excuse for his actions, but it always keeps a strong grip on its victims. He is sorry for what happened."

She nods and I stand, turning to leave. "What happened to you?" I stop when I hear her question, turning around to lock eyes with her. "You're with Klaus, the evilest man on earth, but you don't seem to be like him."

I smile at her before standing next to her bed while keeping my eyes locked with hers. "Nik isn't always like that. He's just been through circumstances that have changed him beyond repair," I say as she frowns at me. "You must know that not every vampire is the same from when they were human, right?" She looks down, maybe thinking about it for the first time in her vampire life. "You're a young vampire and you're gonna go through unimaginable change. It only takes time for it to happen, or even a second."

"What about the first question? How did you meet him?" she asks and I chuckle at the memory of him failing at kidnapping me.

"Well, I formally met him after I died," I say as her eyes furrow in confusion. "He sat next to my bed all night after my accident; seeing this man that had previously tried to kidnap me, telling me that he was going to take care of me."

This revelation causes her eyes to widen in surprise. "Why?"

"Because I am the doppelgänger of the woman that ruined his family and that was what originally drew him in," I say. "And after I woke up, we got to know each other and, before we knew it, we became kindred spirits; finding a friend to rely on in one another."

"It must be tough with him," she says and I chuckle.

"I can say there isn't a moment of dullness in my life," I say as she gives me a small smile, but a thought enters my mind before I sit on her bed once more. "Listen to me carefully, Caroline. You should listen to Nik's words. There is a huge world out there, but enjoy the little time you have here, for a vampire's life is eternal and it's not going anywhere."

She nods at me with a small smile that I return. "Thank you."

"Happy birthday, Caroline," I tell her before taking this moment to teleport back to the mansion, determined to find out if Klaus is actually smitten with the young vampire.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review, Favorite, Follow or whatever you want. See ya later!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Here is yet another chapter! I am honestly a bit skeptical about it because I honestly didn't know how else to write but here it is and i hope you enjoy it!**

**Like always, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me.**

**Review, Fave, Follow or PM me, whatever you like!**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

* * *

"And why are we here again?" I ask as I walk around the living room of the Salvatore home, looking around the place and at the many drinks that were scattered around a table. _These people sure love their drinks,_ I think to myself. Klaus sits on one of the cushioned chairs with music playing over speakers after he found it and turning it on.

"Waiting for the next order of business since Stefan seems to be running the show," Klaus sighs. "Make me a drink?"

I give him a look as he gives me his puppy eyes, which work, but not always, but it's working at the moment. "Fine," I grumble and he turns the volume up with the remote of the speakers before placing it on the small table next to his seat as I walk over to one of the tables with many crystal bottles filled with alcohol. I pick one up and fill a glass with its contents before going over to Klaus and handing it to him, sitting on the armrest of the chair.

"Thank you," he says as he takes a sip from his drink.

"You're welcome, my King," I say mockingly, receiving a glare from him, to which I smirk in return. I hear the front door open and turn to see Stefan entering his home before he closes the door behind him. He walks past us and grabs the remote of the speakers, turning the volume of the music down.

"What are you two doing here?" Stefan asks us as he stands in front of us.

"Nothing much," I say.

"Just enjoying our stalemate," Klaus says with a grin.

"What do you want?" Stefan asks and I shrug.

"The question is: what do you want?" Klaus asks him. "My hybrids left town as you demanded, so please tell what I need to do to get my family back."

"Well," Stefan says and clears his throat before sitting down on another cushioned chair a few feet next to ours, "you see…I'm not negotiating."

"And you understand holding them indefinitely is the same thing as dropping them in the ocean," says Klaus.

"No, no. You leave Mystic Falls and then give me a call in a few years and we'll talk," Stefan says as Klaus takes a sip from his drink while I stare at him incredulously.

"Seriously?" I ask him.

"I'm very serious," Stefan tells me and I roll my eyes at him in annoyance.

"Emotionally constipated Stefan is dumber than a brooding Stefan," I say to no one in particular as I lean against Klaus's side.

"I'm going to give you another chance," Klaus says as he stares at Stefan, "just one more. Let's make a reasonable deal."

Stefan leans forward on his chair. "Or what? You make one move and I will drop-"

Klaus chuckles while I smirk at Stefan. "Yeah, you're a crazed Stefan now."

"How's that working out for you?" Klaus asks after he recovered from chuckling. "Any friends left?"

Stefan leans back on his chair, his face not giving away any type of emotion and I ask, "They can't be really your friends if they didn't stick by you through all the sides of your person. I have been with Nik on his worst days and I'm still here."

"They only want the Stefan that's been repressing his vampire side," Klaus says and I nod in agreement. "They won't accept every part of him."

"Well, now it's getting depressing," I say and stand up with Klaus following my example.

"I agree," Klaus says before we take our leave.

Once outside, I stop a few feet away from the front door. "I'm gonna look around the forest," I say and Klaus turns to me with a frown before walking over to me.

"Why?" he asks since he never misses a chance to interrogate me about my ramblings.

"Well, I figured that looking around might help getting us clues as to where the coffins may be," I say and he nods. "I read about a specific location and I'm intent on finding out about it."

"All right, but be careful," he says and I smile.

"Always am," I say.

"No, you're not," he says and I roll my eyes at him in annoyance before he blurs away, leaving me on my own to handle my lead at a possible location of the coffins.

* * *

I've been walking around the forest for hours and the sun is beginning to set as I look for a certain house that I read about in the newspaper the other day. I had been reading the section of interesting topics and found a page where it talked about an abandoned house that was marked as hunted by the locals and it's forbidden to go there; this information was in a small section about curious facts about Mystic Falls. It said it was supposed to be hunted, claiming that a massacre occurred there. The massacre was years ago and locals were hunting witches and burning them alive. I figured that a massacre like that is reason enough for me to scout the place, apart from the fact that the place is secluded enough for Stefan to leave the coffins there and it's worth to check out the place.

I come out to a clearing and in front of me is a massive house, wearied and decayed by time. I could actually feel the death that practically oozes from within that house and weighs heavy on my whole being, even at the distance that I stand some feet away from the house. I take a deep breath and walk over to it while hugging myself, disliking the essence of death that I couldn't shake as I watch the house.

I stand on the front entrance of the house, looking around the area to make sure I'm alone before entering. The moment I step in, I hear the whispering of indistinctive voices, causing me to groan at the amount of whispering at my ears, as if someone was right next to me and was whispering in my ear without taking a breath. I knew what this was, and I am not in the mood for the dead. The whispering is already growing a headache in my head and its angering me.

"I know you're here," I say out loud to the house. "I also know that whatever happened to you wasn't fair, so there's no need to get mad with me." The whispering calms down as I look around. "You know what I am. I'm like you, but not like you since I am clearly not on the Other Side. I know that pisses you all, probably like the rest of your kind."

The whispering stops completely, causing the house to become engulfed with silence and I look around, waiting for something to happen since I am a ghost that is in the home of the ghosts of what I assume are witches. And by the many whisperings, it isn't just a few ghosts but quite a large quantity. I frown as I feel the familiar type of pain-filled death weighing heavy on me that is in this house, which causes me to wonder where it's coming from. _They're here_, I think_._

Suddenly, I'm thrown against a wall, causing me to grunt when I come in contact with a wall and I manage to sit up against it, looking up to lock eyes with the familiar blue eyes of Damon Salvatore, causing me to roll my eyes in annoyance. I disappear, but frown in confusion when I find myself still her. This can only mean that, with so many ghosts hunting this house, I can't use my own abilities without pushing myself too much and I am wary of the damage that I might cause.

"Well," he says as he looks down at me with a smirk, "aren't you the little cat that got too curious?"

"A simple greeting or threat would've been fine, you brute," I say as I stand up while he chuckles.

"Well, who am I to pass an opportunity to pounce on a ghost," he says with a grin and I glare at him.

"By the looks of things I'm in the right place," I say, to which he frowns and I know that he's playing dumb. "Who died in here?" I ask as I look around the abandoned home with dust, vines and other things surrounding its walls and the little furniture it has. "I could feel the death from this place from a mile away."

"Some witches were massacred in here, burned alive," he says and I raise my eyebrows in disbelief. "It surely happened during those years when they were considered worshipers of all that is evil."

"Well, that explains the strong sense of death," I say. "I can practically feel their anger." And it is true since I practically feel it seeping into my bones, even causing me to feel angry myself.

"Is it one of your tricks to tell where people died?" he asks and I turn to him.

"I can sense death and feel when death takes someone, even the how; I have a connection with things dead," I sigh, "like me. I can sense when death is near and this house is practically sending waves of it."

"What about me?" he asks and I tilt my head in annoyance at his flirtatious look. "Technically, I'm dead."

"You're undead, not dead-dead," I correct him. "There's a difference. You didn't stay dead-dead."

"I wonder why they didn't fry you like they did to me the first time I came here," he says.

"Well, they're witches and I was human before I died," I say. "I'm the species they protect against yours, except that I'm a ghost that they now, but that doesn't matter since their power doesn't really cause me physical damage."

"Noted," he says as he narrows his eyes at me. "So, what brings you here?"

"What brings _you_ here?" I ask with a grin as big as his.

"Touché," he says as he approaches me. "Does Klaus know you're here?"

"Why? Is there anything important here that he would like to have back and you shouldn't have?" I ask and he shrugs, to which I roll my eyes at him. "Damon, I've been around those coffins for years. The death surrounding them is familiar to me and I know they're here; I can feel them."

"Well, what are you gonna do about it?" he asks me with narrowed eyes. "You won't be able to find them on your own and I'm not one to kiss-and-tell."

I sigh, thinking fast. I need something, anything to get the coffins back since Damon won't just give them to me and I can't exactly beat him out of it with a bunch of ghosts nullifying my powers, which is quite annoying. There's not much I can do without my powers, but I needed to try anything to get those coffins back and then deal with how I'll wake them up and who I should wake up first. I groan at the amount of things I need to plan, but I needed to concentrate on going one step at a time. The first step is getting them back safe and sound at the mansion.

"I want to make a deal," I say bluntly, not having really thought about it and catching him off guard as he eyes me warily.

"What?" he asks since he didn't expect me to want to make a deal. "Does Klaus know about this deal?"

"Well, if we make this deal, he'll know about it soon enough. I'm not good with keeping things in the dark, especially from Nik," I say as we stand in front of one another as I just go on a whim here with this deal. Damon looks at me with wary eyes and I sigh. "Unlike Klaus, I do keep my promises without looking for a way to have it bite you in the ass by using a loophole in it. I have no intention of betraying you in this deal since it will benefit us both."

"Even if he'll know sooner or later, why you would even think of making a deal behind Klaus' back?" he asks. "I thought you two were best friends forever and that is enough for me to not even consider making a deal with you."

"Yes, but I won't be going against him if I get him his coffins back," I say. "As for you accepting the deal, you'll have to trust me."

"I still don't buy it," he says and I sigh.

"Like I said, I have been around those coffins for a very long time, Salvatore," I say. "They don't deserve to be in that kind of pain they are in and I always feel it weighing on me; it's become so constant that it's normal to me. I don't want them to keep going through that. I've died and I experienced death once and it was hell; they have been experiencing it for years, decades even. I just want it to stop and I'll stop it by un-daggering them."

"Why do you wanna do this now? Why not un-dagger before?" he asks and I shrug.

"Like any friend, I always gave Nik a chance to do it on his own but he never did. I know it was because he didn't know how his siblings were going to react and that's enough reason for him not to wake them; he dislikes that type of confrontation," I say. "He wasted his last opportunity and I am taking matters into my own hands, but that is for me to deal with after I get them back."

"You know, I really think you can be trusted by what you're telling me about your heartfelt and moral act," he says. "But then, you might just stab me in the back. You want to wake them, but we don't know what his siblings might do after they wake up; they might burn the town to the ground for all we know, which is why I'd really prefer them to be locked up for the rest of eternity."

"Then you'll have Klaus breathing down your neck for the rest of eternity," I counter. "Besides, you're right. Nik's my best friend and he wants those coffins back, which in turn is what I want, but my plans on solving my predicament with the daggers are my own and no one is going to stop me from taking those daggers out of them, even if I have to go through Niklaus to do it."

"Tempting as it is, what makes you think I'll even consider making this deal with you?" he asks and I shrug with a smirk, feeling a bit like Klaus. "Elena's safety also hangs in the balance and I don't want to risk that."

"Unlike Nik, I prefer to go straight to the point and there's really not much you can do to stop me if I want to tear you apart since you have _nothing_ to hold against me; well, unless you manage to capture Klaus and use him against me, but I don't see that happening any time soon. We make a deal so I don't look like a bitch taking your candy or I threaten to kill your brother to get you to give me the coffins." He freezes on the spot at my threat, which I won't carry out, but he doesn't have to know that. "And I have plenty of chances to do it with him prancing around as if he owns the town."

"What's your deal?" he asks, not hesitating after my words.

"Let me take the coffins and I give you something in return that doesn't involve any type of nightly activities under your sheets," I say, trying to see if he'll just give them to me and I give him something else in return.

"Out of the question," he says in outrage and I sigh, knowing that it was a long shot by offering him any type of favor from me. "They're the only thing keeping Klaus from killing me and my brother and I doubt you'll be able to stop him from killing us."

"Well," I begin as I think things over, coming up with an idea that causes me to grin. "What do you say you keep one and I take the rest?"

"I still come up short on the deal," he says and I groan.

"Klaus will find this place sooner or later. I am not going to let you move the coffins and Nik will kill you when he finds all of them. I'm giving you the chance to walk out alive with leverage. I've had enough of this petty fighting," I say and he looks around, expecting something to happen, probably for the ghosts of the witches to do something. "They can't harm me, Damon," I say, knowing he was waiting for the witches to attack me. "I'm already dead, there's nothing more they can do to me."

"I'll rephrase," he says, not budging. "I still come up short on the damn deal."

"What do you want?" I ask.

"How about I wake up a specific person that'll benefit us both?" he asks and I frown.

"Wake up one of the ones I am taking?" I ask as I think it over for a second. It'll be good since I will have the coffins back and the healing process can start between Klaus and one of his siblings. "Sure, but I pick who."

"Fine," he says, disliking having to make a deal with me. "We have a deal, kitty cat."

"Good and ever call me that," I say, knowing that Damon will keep true to our deal and I know he'll have something up his sleeve, but I don't have time for that; all I am focused on is to get the coffins back, even if I'll be missing one.

I know that Klaus won't like this, but I need to get the coffins back since this is getting quite ridiculous; it's like watching little kids pulling a rope to see who wins. Once I have the coffins, except for one, we'll deal with only having to get one back. I just worry about the tantrum that Klaus is surely going to give me.

* * *

"It's here, Nik," I say as I lead him to the old witch house. After sealing my deal with Damon, I had gone to get Klaus, leading him to the old witch house and hoping Damon had enough time to get one of the coffins.

"How did you find this place again?" he asks and I chuckle as we come up to where the house is.

"I read it in the newspaper and thought it was worth checking out," I say as we enter the house.

"Witches were massacred in here?" he asks as he steps in hesitantly, knowing that witches still had power, even in death.

"Yeah, they were burned alive," I say as he walks around and I follow him. "Damon came here earlier. The coffins must be here, but I couldn't find them after he left."

"Well, let's check the most obvious place," he says as he goes down some stairs.

"The basement," I say as we go down some steps, noticing the lit candles on the steps before stepping into the basement with empty space in the middle, which causes me to frown.

I look around and see many candles lit, which is something that witches use to focus their power. I perk up at the feeling of a presence in the house and tug at Klaus' arm, gaining his attention. I place the finger on my lips, telling him to be silent before pointing upstairs and he seems to be listening in. He pulls me by my arm to hide in the shadows of the room.

A couple of seconds later, Damon enters the room, frowning at the empty space, which causes me to frown at his look that says that there is something supposed to be in this room. His face is full of worry and wariness as he looks around. With heavy footsteps, Klaus comes out of the shadows, revealing himself to Damon with me trailing behind him.

"What took you so long?" Klaus asks him with a smirk as Damon stares at us with worried eyes. "Hiding behind your witchy friends," he says as he approaches Damon. "And in squalor, no less."

Suddenly, Klaus screams in pain as he kneels down on the ground, gripping the side of his head with one hand and supporting his weight on the floor with the other. I look around at the candles, noticing that their flames have intensified and the indistinct whispering comes back, causing me to cover my ears in discomfort of their volume.

The anger and hatred I feel from the room causes me to groan at the small throbbing in my head, which must be because of the witches' intensified emotions. This is the reason why I can't counter with my abilities, because they are too many and I honestly don't know what would happen if I do counter them with my abilities. _For all I know, I could end up destroying everything around me,_ I think to myself.

I see Damon smirking at Klaus, as the latter tries to stand without much result. "Insulting a bunch of dead witches? Not smart," Damon says as Klaus glares up at him. "I made the same mistake first time I came here."

"Well, you know, the funny thing about witches," Klaus says, struggling to fight the invisible force weighing on him, "is that living or dead, they care about their own." He grunts in pain. "A hundred dead witches have a thousand living descendants," he says, screaming in pain once more and gripping the side of his head, to which I go over to him and hold his shoulders, trying to comfort him since I can't do much against dead witches that I can't see.

"Nik?" I ask in concern.

"And I have no problem killing every last one of them," Klaus snarls at the witches as I help him stand on his feet, "if I don't get my coffins back. As we speak, my hybrid friend is prepared to end the Bennett line."

Like it came, the indistinct whispering disappears and the candles' flames return to being small like any other candle while Klaus seems to be free of pain. I could feel the anger and hatred disappear from when the witches attacked Klaus, which is why it affected me.

Klaus stands in front of a wary and upset Damon. "Now," Klaus says before turning to the side and looking up, talking to the witches. "Please, show me the coffins." Klaus and I look down at the appearance of three coffins in the empty space in the room, causing me to stare in disbelief.

"They were here the whole time," I say, amazed at the idea of having the witches hide the coffins as Klaus walks over to them.

"Here we are," Klaus says and I stand next to him, noticing his eyes on a spot where another coffin must've been before he turns to Damon. "Where's the fourth?" Damon smirks at him before looking up, directing his attention to the witches. "Show me!"

"Well, uh, here's the thing," Damon says as he walks around the coffins. "They can't. It's not here."

"What did you do?" Klaus asks as he follows Damon in a threatening way, as if circling his prey.

"Well, Bonnie and a very useful source gave me the heads up," Damon says as he stands in the middle of two coffins with Klaus standing in front him and I stand behind Damon. "I mean, I didn't have enough time to get all four, but I did have time to get one."

"I will tear you limb from limb," Klaus says as he stalks over to Damon. "And only then, when you're a writhing mass of blood and flesh, will I rip your heart from your chest, but Gwen being here is the only reason stopping me from carrying out the deed. I can actually be discreet from time to time."

"Sorry, Gwen or no," Damon says, "same rules apply. You know, leverage and all. I know you want your family back. But something tells me you want what's in that coffin a lot more."

Damon turns and winks at me with a smug look before walking out of the basement, leaving me and Klaus to deal with the three coffins we have back.

* * *

After Klaus had some hybrids move the coffins from the old house where the dead witches resided in, we now had them in one of the many rooms in the completed mansion. Daniel is the only hybrid still around since Stefan would still want Klaus' hybrids out of town.

I stand on the doorway of the room, watching Daniel arrange the three coffins in front of Rebekah's while debating if I should wake them and, if I do, which one should I start with. These thoughts went through my head as Klaus approaches me with a concerned look.

"Are you all right, Cat?" he asks me and I nod, knowing that I had to tell him about my deal with Damon.

"Nik, I need to tell you something," I say and he gives me his undivided attention. "After we split up at the Salvatore home, I found the house, but, before I could take a good look around, Damon stopped me and my abilities wouldn't have worked with a bunch of dead witches on me. So…I made a deal with him."

He narrows his eyes at me. "What deal?"

"I knew that I couldn't stay without knowing where the coffins were and I couldn't leave to get you without risking him moving the coffins," I say and I sigh at his blank look, causing me to become tense since I didn't know if he was upset. "I told him he could take one of the coffins and I got the rest or I would have killed Stefan."

"We both know that's a lie," he says with mirth, diffusing some of the tension in my body.

"I let him take one of them while I got you and…that's it," I say, waiting for his response.

"Why are you so bloody tense?" he asks and I shrug. "We have three coffins back. Granted, it could've gone better and I am missing one of them, but it's better than having none."

"I thought you'd be upset that I let him take the one that seems to be quite important," I say and he sighs.

"Well, we'll sort that out later," he says and I nod.

I frown. "What is so important about that one coffin?"

"All in due time, Cat," he says and I don't press the issue.

"You've got your family back," Daniel says as he finishes arranging the last coffin, "finally." We both turn to him. "You gonna open them?"

"Not quite yet," Klaus says and I huff in frustration, which earns me a look from Klaus that I ignore as I plan on when I should take the daggers out of his siblings. "I still have some unfinished business to take care of." He turns to walk away and I follow with Daniel following behind.

"There's something else, Nik," I say, deciding to come clean now as he frowns at me. "Damon thought he was coming short on the deal, so a proposal was made." Klaus narrows his eyes at me. "I had no choice and I honestly liked it."

"What business?" Daniel asks, referring to Klaus' earlier words and we both turn to him, only to see him grunt in pain and arching forward with his face exhibiting his pain as Klaus stands in front of me protectively. My eyes widen and I gasp the moment Daniel falls dead on the ground, only to see Elijah holding the hybrid's heart in his hand.

"Elijah," I whisper. _Well, this saved me the trouble of explaining myself to Klaus,_ I think to myself, knowing that it was an excellent choice to wake Elijah above any other sibling that I really didn't know.

"Miss Gwen, it's a pleasure to see you," Elijah says as he drops Daniel's heart on the floor.

"Likewise," I say, my eyes still wide as a smile slowly grows on my lips, happy that at least one of them doesn't have a dagger in their chest, lessening the weighing of death over me.

Elijah then turns to Klaus with a pointed look. "So Niklaus…"

"Elijah," Klaus says, surprised to see his brother without a dagger in his chest.

"What did I miss?" Elijah asks with his eyes locked with Klaus'. _I don't know if things will be good or even more complicated than they already are, but they are sure to get interesting,_ I think.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. We're getting closer to the reunion of the Original Family! Review and whatnot, pretty please with a cherry on top and see ya later!**


	13. Chapter 12

**And here is yet another chapter! Hope you enjoy this one.**

**Like always, nothing of the Vampire Dairies belongs to me, except for the obvious that does belong to me. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

* * *

"Klaus, you look surprised to see me," Elijah says as he wipes most of Daniel's blood from his hand with one of his handkerchiefs.

"Actually, I'm glad you're not in a box, 'Lijah," I say with a small smile, Klaus giving me a sharp look as I stand next to him. "And this is also the other part of the deal I made with Damon."

"What?" Klaus asks me, disbelief in his eyes while he glares at me and I offer him a sheepish smile.

"It was the only way to get the coffins back," I say before we turn to Elijah.

"So it wasn't you that removed that dagger from my chest, dear brother," Elijah says while I watch Klaus' body become rigid at Elijah's sarcastic tone as he keeps his eyes on Elijah. "It's not surprising."

"You look like you could do with a drink, brother. And we have a lot to discuss, so shall we?" Klaus motions to some chairs around a coffee table as I watch Elijah's hard look turn into a heated glare directed at his brother.

My eyes widen as Elijah uses his supernatural speed to jump high above Klaus and bring down his fist to punch Klaus square in the face before shoving him through some glass doors a few feet back, breaking them as Klaus falls on his back with a grunt. Klaus rolls backwards until he's standing on all fours while glaring up at Elijah. The sheer power that the Originals have never ceases to both amaze and frighten me.

"Easy," Klaus says as he keeps his eyes on Elijah. "I just finished renovating." Klaus blurs over to Elijah, picking him up by his neck before slamming him down on a coffee table, breaking it with Elijah lying on the scraps of what it used to be.

"Really?" I ask in disbelief of their actions.

"Well, you can step in any time," Klaus accuses me and I huff in exasperation.

"I did warn you that they might be prone to kick your ass," I say and he glares at me, but I only shrug in return. "Besides, do you really need to do this inside the house?"

"Not now, Cat," Klaus says before turning to his brother as he towers over Elijah. "You know, you have every right to be mad at me. But I kept my word. I reunited you with our family."

I frown at him. "You said you daggered him because he was going to kill you."

"I may have omitted some of the truth," Klaus says and I glare at him. "He was going to kill me, but changed his mind at the last moment. I gave him my word that I'd reunite him with our family, and I did."

"You're unbelievable," I hiss at him with a glare before Elijah blurs to him, punching and kicking Klaus into the room with the coffins as I follow them at a safe distance. "You deserve this and you know it, Nik."

Klaus opens one of the coffins, pulling out a dagger from the body in it as Elijah goes to attack him once more and my eyes widen. Klaus grabs him in a vice grip and he pins him on the other coffin that is next to the open one. Klaus raises the dagger high above Elijah's chest, ready to dagger him, but then he stills his actions.

"Stop, Nik," I plead from the doorway of the room, staring at Klaus and Elijah as they glare at one another.

"Don't make me do this to you again, Elijah," Klaus says and I sigh, knowing that Klaus does hate to be the one plunging the daggers into his siblings' chests, but that isn't enough to stop him from doing it.

"Don't do it, Nik," I plead, not wanting to see Elijah daggered as I stand on the doorway of the room.

My eyes fall on the open coffin, which revealed a young man, looking a bit older than me but seems younger than Klaus and Elijah. He has dark brown hair, like Elijah's, which is styled upwards. He appears to be in his early twenties. He is similar to Elijah in facial features, but he looks younger. I could tell he has a lean and athletic build, to which I frown when I feel a small blush. He is wearing clothing that is clearly not from this time period, but not many centuries old. _I have to admit that he's handsome,_ I think to myself, glad that Klaus and Elijah are too engrossed in one another to notice me blushing at the sight of their sibling.

"Come on, use it," Elijah says, ceasing to fight against Klaus' hold and glares up at Klaus challengingly. "I dare you. You'll have Kol to deal with."

I frown at them before I look at the man that is still desiccated in the coffin, approaching it as I realize this is Kol. This is the Original vampire that hates the ancestor I am the image of. I am only glad that I'm already dead since I assume that he might want to kill me. I place my hands on the edge of the end of the coffin, tilting my head to the side as I gaze at Kol. I can't help but stare at him since he is one of two Originals that I haven't met and know nothing about him, which peaks my curiosity.

"Mikael is dead," I hear Klaus say and I turn to see him releasing his grip on Elijah with the dagger lowered to his side. I sigh in relief at Klaus not wanting to dagger Elijah, who is standing in front of Klaus with a look of pure disbelief.

"What did you say?" Elijah asks.

"I killed him. With his own weapon," Klaus says and Elijah turns to me, probably looking for affirmation.

"It's true," I say and Elijah turns back to Klaus, his face full of utter disbelief and relief.

"He's gone, Elijah, forever," Klaus says and Elijah narrows his eyes at him in anger.

"Then, why do our family remain in these coffins?" Elijah says as he points to the coffin on his right while glaring at Klaus. "Finn for over nine-hundred years," he says and turns to Kol's, "Kol for over a century."

"Because of Stefan Salvatore," Klaus says and I scoff, catching their attention.

"Why not wake them and deal with Stefan together as a family?" I ask as I give Klaus a proud look at my own solution. "Wait, it's against your protocol."

"It seems that you have stepped onto Miss Gwen's bad side, brother," Elijah says as he narrows his eyes at Klaus, who simply rolls his eyes before turning to me.

"He holds the one thing keeping me from freeing them," Klaus says and I frown, making me wonder what on earth is in that coffin that I let Damon take. Klaus turns to Elijah. "There are things that you do not know about our past, Elijah. Our mother's death, things I never wanted you to know. But I'm ready to tell you now." He eyes me before turning his gaze back to Elijah. "To the both of you."

"After we take down Stefan, will you free them?" I ask as I stand next to Elijah and Klaus nods to me.

"I only ask," Klaus says to Elijah before walking over to a small table with some container on it, "that you remember the oath of loyalty you once swore to me." He dips the dagger in it, swirling the tip inside.

"What are you doing?" Elijah asks Klaus, who is walking over to Kol's coffin.

"Nik?" I ask, not liking what I know what he's about to do.

I watch Elijah wanting to stop Klaus, but he manages to keep himself from lashing out at him again. He knows as well as I that going against Klaus on this will only end badly without much result. I watch Klaus plunge the dagger back into Kol's chest, to which I feel a small twitch in my chest that I shake off.

Klaus turns to us. "Always and forever," he says as he stands in front of me and Elijah. "I need you to stand by my side. Be my brother and a sister in everything but blood. Help me…destroy Stefan and I promise you, our family will be whole again." He turns from us and closes the lid of Kol's coffin.

"Well, fun times ahoy," I say, to which I earn raised eyebrows from the Originals in front of me and I simply shrug at them.

* * *

"Good morning, Miss Gwen," Elijah says as he enters the kitchen where I am reading the newspaper on a chair in the island.

I look up at him and smile, putting the newspaper away. "Good morning, Elijah," I greet as I take in his appearance, not changing from his suits but he must've had a haircut, which doesn't look bad on him. "You clean up quite nicely after being daggered."

"Thank you," he says with a grin as he goes to the refrigerator.

I put an elbow on the counter, leaning my chin on my hand as I frown at Elijah. He seems to have gotten over the fact that Klaus killed his mother quickly, which is quite the opposite of Rebekah's reaction. He had remained passive and only glared at Klaus, exchanging a bit of harsh words but that was practically it. It might be that Elijah understood Klaus' reason; Klaus _is_ his little brother, who suffered years of beatings at his father's hands, and he did nothing to stop it, but I can tell it wounds him that he did nothing to help Klaus; the guilt is there in his eyes.

I can tell that Elijah and I are alike in the manner that we actually choose to understand Klaus' reasons, for he cannot just simply be a monster who does things without reasons. It was actually one of the many things we talked about when I met him in Chicago and Elijah trusts my reasons for wanting to free his family are justified and fair, which is how he described it. We both have hope for Klaus.

"You look as lovely as always, my dear Miss Gwen," he says as he takes a blood bag from the fridge before closing it, approaching the island after taking a glass from one of the cupboards.

I blush at his comment. "I am the image of my death Elijah, how is that lovely?"

"The fact that you chose not to let your death be a part of you and you radiate loveliness is the reason why I admire you, Miss Gwen," he says as he pours blood on the glass. "You changed the image of your death and replaced it with your own." He tilts his glass at me with a smile before taking a sip.

"Well, thank you, Elijah," I say with a grin. "I really wish I could give you an equal profound compliment." We both chuckle and his eyes narrow at me, causing me to frown. "What?"

"Where is Niklaus?" he asks and I shrug.

"I think he went out to do some errands; clothes and necessities for your family," I say and he nods, thinking things over. "Did you need something?"

"I'm in need of some assistance that doesn't involve him," he says and I nod, still not knowing what he's getting at. "I wish to have you as an ally since I require someone I can place my trust in and you're the only one I can think of."

"Well, whatever it is," I say as I smile at him, "you can count on me; as long as it doesn't involve any plotting to kill Nik, but teaching him a lesson—since it is your duty as his older brother—is something I can help you with."

"Well, killing him isn't on my agenda," he says as he reaches into a pocket in his jacket. "I prefer my brother alive, but some retribution should be in order. And I think this might get in the way of said retribution."

I frown as he hands me a small piece of paper that was folded. I unfold it and notice it is small and carries a short message that says, 'Dear Elijah, let's get together. Plot the destruction of your brother. XOXO.'

I hand him back the message with a huff, knowing it was from Damon. "Damon and the rest of them have been trying to kill Klaus for a while. The reason, well, it's unknown to me since he was causing trouble to get you back from Stefan. And they probably still hold a grudge on him for killing the Petrova girl, who is still very much alive."

"I will meet with Damon," he says as he straightens up. "I shall see what he wants."

"Be careful, Elijah," I say. "They are very tricky and I wouldn't trust any of them for a second. They woke you with the intention of killing Nik and, as much as many think that he deserves it, I don't want to see him dead; I'll kill them first."

"And you will not, Miss Gwen," Elijah tells me with a small smile in understanding. "My brother is many things, but I believe there is still some humanity in him and he is my brother. It's always family above all and I will be the one to deal with Klaus' punishment."

"Thank you, Elijah," I say with a nod that he returns before he goes to leave, stopping at the doorway of the room before turning to me.

"Had Damon not removed the dagger from my chest, would you have done it?" he asks and I take a deep breath before looking at him.

"Yes," I answer honestly, feeling guilty at having gone behind Klaus' back. "I was actually planning on doing it. I just couldn't figure out the how, when or who, but it would have most likely been you since you're actually the only one in this family with any sense of morality. I love Nik and I have grown fond of you and Rebekah."

"Well, I have grown fond of you as well, Miss Gwen. Even if you carry the face of the woman that ruined my family, you have overshadowed her with your own. You have actually made an impact on my brother that I never thought I'd ever see and that earned you my respect," he says with a smile that I return. "I am honored of the confidence you have in me; I will not let you down. Niklaus will not die and my siblings will be free."

"I trust you, 'Lijah," I say and he nods before taking his leave, leaving me on my own in this mansion.

I knew that Elijah will never kill or help kill Klaus, even after everything that Klaus has done. Elijah loves Klaus and he also believes that he has a side that holds his humanity; it's just buried deep in there and only comes out on rare occasions. I only want Klaus to release his family, remedy the damage that is done before everything gets worse for him.

* * *

I step in the room that is being prepared for the dinner by women wearing gold vests and black miniskirts, to which I roll my eyes at since their clothes are quite revealing. The dinner is going to be with the Salvatore brothers that Elijah arranged with Damon while Klaus gave a small resistance, but relented at Elijah's carefully chosen words.

Elijah shared with me that he knows that Damon has a secret agenda, from what he told me when he returned from meeting up with him. Elijah also has his own secret agenda that Klaus doesn't know and didn't tell me, wanting to keep me out of it while Klaus knows nothing and I know everything and nothing, which leads me to stand on neutral ground.

"When is this dinner going to be?" I ask out loud while looking around, knowing that Elijah and Klaus will hear me, even if they're not in the room.

"Soon," I jump at Elijah's voice from behind me, turning to see him and Klaus grinning at me, to which I roll my eyes at them.

"Very funny," I say sarcastically as they chuckle at my expense, but I roll my eyes at them.

"You look as lovely as ever, Miss Gwen," Elijah says as he takes one of my hands in his before giving it a chaste kiss and I nod at him with a smile.

I look down to see my usual boots with my gray, cropped leggings. I have my usual white tank top and a slightly oversized, cream cardigan with two patch pockets at the hem and three-quarter sleeves. I had my necklace around my neck and I wear my hair down in waves with my bangs sweeping across my forehead.

"Her clothes consist of them same thing she always wears, Elijah," Klaus says and I glare at his smirk. "But she always looks lovely." Slowly, a smile grows on my lips at his compliment.

"Thank you both," I say with a smile that they return. "Do I really need to stay for this dinner?"

Klaus groans in annoyance while Elijah sighs since I have been trying to get out of attending this dinner with vampires that want to kill the people I care about. "Yes, Cat," Klaus says, clearly irritated with my constant complaining, which has been going on ever since the dinner was arranged.

"At least stay for half the dinner," Elijah offers and I huff before nodding in agreement.

"Fine," I say, making it clear that I wasn't happy. "But if they start-"

"You may do as you please to defend yourself against nasty remarks or any other insult; be it physical or emotional," Elijah says and I nod.

"The household is doomed to fall," Klaus mumbles and I glare at him, to which he grins at me.

"You two almost broke down the household last night," I counter.

"That was different," says Klaus.

"I have to agree with my brother, Miss Gwen," says Elijah.

I raise an eyebrow at them. "So it's okay to break a home like animals, but it's wrong to talk it out like civilized people?" I roll my eyes at the glance they shot at each other. "No wonder vampires are hunted."

Just as Klaus and Elijah open their mouths to protest against my words, the doorbell sounds across the house, causing them to stop whatever they were going to say while I grin at them in victory. I assume Damon and Stefan must be the ones who arrived as Elijah goes to answer the door.

As Elijah goes to answer the door, the three waitresses that were standing to the sides with trays filled with food and drinks are at the ready to tend to the dinner's and it's participant's needs.

"Niklaus. Miss Gwen," Elijah calls. "Our guests have arrived."

Klaus and I turn to see Elijah leading Damon and Stefan into the room. "Damon. Stefan," Klaus greets.

"Hello, boys," I greet with a polite smile as I stand next to Klaus to the side of the table where the dinner is to take place.

"Elijah tells me you seek an audience," Klaus says as he smirks at them. "Very bold. Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized men and woman, shall we?" Klaus motions to the table with a hand and I roll my eyes at him, knowing that he would prefer torturing them, which proves me right in my earlier words.

"It's better to indulge him," Elijah says to Damon and Stefan as he passes by them, standing on the other side of the table.

"I didn't, uh, come here to eat, Klaus," Stefan says as he steps down the two steps that lead to this room while Klaus smirks at him. "In fact, I didn't want to come here at all, but I was told I had to, because you would hear us out."

Klaus chuckles at Stefan's words. "Well, we can sit and eat or I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides." One of the waitresses—a blonde one—pulls out a chair and Klaus sits down on it. "The choice is yours."

Damon and Stefan go to sit down and I walk over to the chair between Klaus and Elijah, the latter pulling it out for me and I smile at him before sitting down. After pushing me closer to the table Elijah takes the seat to my right with Stefan to his left while Damon sat to his brother's right with Klaus on his right.

I sit still as the waitresses serve dinner, filling tall glasses with red wine. I declined food since I wasn't in the mood to eat something I won't even feel, but I accepted the red wine to at least do something that isn't to just sit still like a statue. Damon eagerly digs into his food discreetly like Klaus and Elijah, but Stefan remains with his arms to the side, refusing to eat his food; his face showing how incredibly annoyed he is.

"Thank you, love," Damon says as he grins to one of the waitresses after she filled his glass with wine and she smiles at him politely before stepping back.

"You lost your appetite?" Klaus asks Stefan, having noticed that Stefan hasn't touched even a nibble of his food, to which Stefan glares at Klaus in response.

"Eat," Damon says to Stefan with a scolding tone. "I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home." Stefan and Damon force themselves to smile at one another, causing me to frown at them before the younger Salvatore begins to eat.

"That's the spirit," Klaus says as he grins at Stefan. "Isn't this nice? The five of us dining together."

"Yeah, it's a treat," I say wryly as I swirl my glass before taking a sip from my wine, disliking the gloomy atmosphere and the tense silence.

"Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger out of my brother?" Klaus asks Damon.

"Well, I knew how he felt about you, so I figured the more, the merrier," Damon says with a grin before taking a bite from his food, winking at Elijah, which causes me to frown but I ignore it.

"Well, like me and Gwen, Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels over the centuries," says Klaus, "but we always make it through."

"Kind of like, uh, you and Rebekah, right?" Stefan asks with his elbows on the table and hands joined, smirking at Klaus. "Where is she, by the way? Last I checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her."

"If you're talking about Rebekah knowing that Nik killed their mother, he already came clean to me and Elijah," I say as I take a sip from my glass, wanting to get things moving along. "He actually listened to me for once." Klaus smirks at me and I roll my eyes at him.

"Right," Stefan says as he turns to me, seeming to want to get a rise out of me. "So, Gwen, did you kill any relatives of yours? It would explain a bit better why you hang around with Klaus."

I felt a slight pang of hurt but I manage to keep my face impassive before saying, "I died with them."

I could tell Klaus and Elijah did not like Stefan's question by the looks they were shooting at him and the unmistakable feeling of anger that is radiating off of them while I grin in victory at shutting up Stefan.

"Hey, Stef," Damon says, catching his brother's attention while glaring at him, "remember when you killed dad? Why don't we dial down the judgment till dessert?"

"We're here to make a deal, Damon," says Stefan. "Doesn't mean we need to kiss his ass for the next courses," he says and Klaus grins down at his plate.

"I'm just saying we have a long evening ahead of us, pace yourself," Damon says while Klaus and Elijah continue eating while I sip from my drink, deciding to ignore their snarky remarks.

"Stefan, where is the lovely Elena tonight?" Elijah asks after finishing his dinner with his elbows on the table and his hands interlocked, close to his chin.

"I don't know," says Stefan. "Ask Damon."

I frown at them while Klaus laughs, causing Elijah to stare at us in confusion. This is the part of the dinner where things get a bit too personal and intense, which seems to amuse Klaus. The last thing we need is a fight breaking out in the middle of dinner after having one last night, which would be my exit.

"I'm sorry. You missed so much," Klaus says to the confused Elijah. "Trouble in paradise." He motions to Stefan with his hand while grinning as realization enters Elijah's face.

"One more word about Elena and, uh, this dinner is over," Stefan says as he gives everyone a fake grin while Klaus places a finger to his lips, as if to keep silent about the topic.

"Hey, you know what? Probably best to keep Elena in the do-not-discuss pile," says Damon.

"I second that," I say and clink my glass with the one Damon raises at me.

"It's just the allure of the Petrova doppelgänger is still so strong," Klaus says and I glare at him to stop, only to be ignored. "What do you say, brother?" he asks Elijah. "Shall we tell them about Tatia and Jen?"

I perk up at the name of my ancestor. "Now, why should we discuss matters long since resolved?" Elijah asks as he takes the napkin from his lap and places it on the table, glancing at Klaus and I could see the many emotions he harbors concerning this topic.

"Well, given their shared affection for both Elena and Katerina, I think our guests might be curious to learn about the originator of the Petrova line and Gwen's ancestor," says Klaus.

"We're not going anywhere," Damon says as he grins with his glass in hand. "Please, do tell."

"When our family first settled here, there was a girl named Tatia and her sister, Jen. They were both exquisite beauties," says Elijah, leaning back on his chair. "Every boy of age desired to be their suitors, even though Tatia had a child by another man and Jen only desired wealth; very much unlike our dear Gwen. None loved Jen more than our younger brother and none loved Tatia more than Niklaus."

"Oh, I'd say there was one who loved Tatia at least as much," Klaus says, his face thinking back to those times, "and Jen was nothing but a liar and traitor, much like her sister."

"Wait a minute," Stefan says with a grin. "So you both loved the same girl, who happens to be the sister of Gwen's ancestor?"

"Yes," I say. "But Elena and I aren't related in the least; our bloodlines have been diluted too much."

"Our mother was a very powerful witch," says Elijah. "She sought to end my feud with Niklaus over Tatia and our younger brother's infatuation with a girl who didn't love him and so she took them."

"That's one way to solve a problem," I say, not really enjoying the fact that my ancestor had caused a lot of trouble for the Original family; yet, Klaus still took me in_._

"Klaus and I would later learn it was Tatia's blood we consumed in the wine on the night where our mother performed a spell, which turned us into vampires," Elijah continues. "Our mother managed to snatch some of Jen's blood and gave it to us to complete the transition. Tatia wouldn't make a decision between the two of us, so for a time, Niklaus and I grew estranged. Harsh words were traded. We even came to blows, didn't we, brother?"

"But in the end, we recognized the sacred bond of family," says Klaus.

"Family above all," Elijah says as he picks up his glass and Klaus does the same.

"Family above all," Klaus repeats, both of them turning to me and I frown.

I notice they're waiting for me and I quickly grab my glass to clink it with theirs before saying, "Family above all."

"So why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?" Elijah asks after our small toast and leaving our drinks on the table.

"It's very simple," Damon says after having glanced down at his lap, causing me to frown. "Klaus gets his coffin back. In exchange, he and the original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever. Me, Stefan and Elena live happily ever after. No grudges."

"You are into polygamy?" I tease, causing Damon and Stefan to glare at me. "I didn't know."

"Gwen, not now," Klaus warns me and I shrug while sniggering a bit.

"The deal sounds fair, brother," Elijah says and I nod, liking even more the part where we leave Mystic Falls.

"I agree," I say.

"I don't think you understand," Klaus begins and I sigh, knowing that he has a problem with the deal. "Elena's doppelgänger blood ensures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me." He puts is his arms on the table and leans on them. "I would never leave her behind."

"This is getting ridiculous," I mumble as I take the last sip from my glass, irritated with this whole hybrid thing Klaus has.

"Say I do leave her here," Klaus says as he grabs his glass before standing up to stand in front of the lit fireplace in the room, "under your protection. What then? How long before one of you turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she dies, caught between your feuding? You see," he says as he leans on his elbows on the back of his chair, "each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her. And that is simply a delusion. Gentlemen," he says and looks to me, "lady," he says before turning to the men at the table, "the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is the two of you." He grins at Damon and Stefan, who harbor trouble in their eyes since they must have realized that Klaus' words do hold some truth.

"I'm gonna get some air," Damon says before standing up and taking his leave.

"Let me deal with this," Elijah says as he stands up to follow Damon. "Gwen, care to help me?"

"Sure," I say before standing up and following Elijah to find Damon.

I follow Elijah out of the dining room and we find Damon in the room where the coffins are as he looks around the coffins while Elijah and I approach him, causing me to frown at whatever they have planned.

"Miss Gwen," Elijah says as he turns to me. "I think it's time for you to take your leave like you requested." I nod at him, understanding that this is the part of the night when things get a bit hectic and he doesn't want me to get involved in any of it.

"How long should I be gone?" I ask.

"Not long," he answers. "At least for an hour or so." I nod before disappearing from the room and appearing outside of the mansion, turning around and leaving to take a walk around town.

* * *

As promised, I gave Elijah his hour and a bit more after going here and there around town. I even went to the Mystic Grill to watch humans hang around and enjoying the night with family and friends. Going there had made me think back on my time as a human with my family, but I had shaken my head and pushed away the thoughts of my past since they were still sensitive.

I walk up to the front door of the mansion and go through the front door. I turn to my side and jump with wide eyes when I am met with a woman in her mid to late forties. She is a tall and slim woman with long, blonde hair and brown eyes. She is wearing some medieval, green dress and I could feel the utter strength that is radiating off of her, which has me frozen on my spot while staring at her.

"I did doubt my son when he mentioned you," she says as she eyes me up and down, scrutinizing me with the smallest of smiles on her lips. "You look like her, but I cannot help but notice some differences."

"Sorry, who are you?" I ask, feeling I actually know who she is but my brain is too shocked with her appearance to work.

"I am the mother of that whom you are close friends with," she says and my eyes widen even further, realizing who she is.

"Esther," I whisper.

"Yes," she says and I sigh. "I have plans to make my family whole and it cannot be done without you present, for Niklaus is greatly fond of you. You are welcome to be part of this family that I am trying to make as one."

"Uh…" I can't exactly make out a word. "Yeah, sure." I jump and frown at the sound of glass breaking in another room.

"It appears your absence has caused great distress," says Esther. "I would make your return known if I were you before this house is turned upside-down." Esther turns around and leaves, to which I release a breath I didn't know I was holding while shaking my head from the strong essence that woman exhibited.

I follow the sound of more glass breaking and hear voices when I come close to one of the living rooms, to which I stop near the doorway to listen in to the conversation, disliking eavesdropping, but I can't help myself; I was human once.

"Where is she, Nik?" I hear Rebekah's voice ask angrily. "I swear that if you daggered her in some way that affects ghosts, I will rip off your limbs!"

If Rebekah is awake, that means that Elijah's plan must've been to awaken his siblings, which means that she isn't the only Original that is lurking around and is furious with Klaus. Even so, I am glad that she's no longer daggered and stowed away in a coffin to rot.

I hear another glass breaking, causing me to flinch at the sound. "Enough! She went out on one of her midnight rambles," I hear Klaus' voice yell.

"She better be fine or I'll-"

I step out from hiding and see that they are in a living room with a lit fireplace. "Hey, Bex," I greet as I stand on the doorway of the room, causing both of them to turn to me from standing in front of one another in a challenging way.

"Gwen," Rebekah says with a smile before I'm engulfed in her embrace, having used her supernatural speed to come over to me.

I smile and hug her back, seeing that she's still wearing the red dress she was going to wear for homecoming. "I missed you too," I say with a chuckle before she pulls back.

She glares at me before lightly punching me in my arm, to which I stare at her with a frown. "What the hell?"

"You only left a bloody note, that's what," she says as she places her hands on her hips and I give her sheepish look that doesn't seem to amuse her.

"Yeah, that wasn't my best departure," I say as she still glares at me. "I'm sorry I left like that, Bex. Can you find it in your undead heart to forgive me?"

She seems to be thinking it over before grinning at me. "All is well," she says and I smile at her before we hug one another once more.

I frown and pull away before turning to Klaus. "Where's everyone else?" I ask. "I assume Rebekah isn't the only one."

"Elijah, Finn and my mother have retired for the night," Klaus says and I frown at him.

"Yeah, about your mother," I begin. "I met her when I got back and I thought she was dead."

"Or so we all thought," Rebekah says as she glares at Klaus. "She was in the fourth coffin."

"The one Damon and Stefan had?" I ask.

"That exact one," says Klaus.

"Now she's alive?" I ask with a frown, completely lost.

"She revealed that it was Ayana who had really killed Jen, having driven a sword through her heart to use her blood and keep mother's body preserved with Jen's blood and to enable her to come back to life," Rebekah explains and I nod, not really sure how to feel about that.

"So the blood that now runs in my body was what brought her back to life?" I ask, to which they nod. "Great."

"Do I want to know if you were part of Elijah's little plan to awaken my siblings?" Klaus asks me and I shake my head.

"I knew he was scheming and wanted to awaken your siblings, but he didn't tell me about his plan," I say honestly and he nods in acceptance. "This is good for you, Nik. You kept your promise to me and now you can resolve your issues with your family."

"Yes, getting beaten by them seems to have solved the issue," he says and I roll my eyes at him.

"You didn't think that they'd greet you with hugs and kisses, did you?" I ask him and Rebekah smirks at my remark.

"It could have gone better," he grumbles.

"Only if you hadn't daggered us in the first place," says Rebekah, earning a glare from Klaus.

"I agree with her," I say and he now glares at me, giving him a grin in return.

"Who's this?" I hear a voice with a British accent say from behind me. "Is she dessert?"

I notice Klaus' eyes widen to the person behind me before Rebekah and I turn to see his younger brother, Kol, standing at the doorway of the room, still wearing his outdated clothes. He has a smirk on his face while staring at me, but it fades when he locks eyes with me, his face turning blank with his mouth slightly open in shock.

"Jen?" Kol asks with furrowed brows.

"Kol," Klaus says, his voice dripping with warning.

I yelp in surprise as I'm pinned to the wall by my neck, Kol's face a few inches away from my own. I stare at his brown eyes surrounded by crimson with protruding veins below them while he shows his fangs, noticing how he towers over me. I grab his wrist that had me pinned to the wall, but I'm too shocked by his reaction to disappear as my jade-green eyes locks with his brown ones, which were narrowed while he glares at me heatedly. I could practically feel the anger radiating from him.

"I could care less how you're here," Kol growls at me. "I'm gonna rip you apart, you bloody wench."

His hand tightens around my neck and I grunt before he's pulled away from me, pushed to the floor by Klaus as Rebekah stands in front of me protectively while Klaus faces Kol, who was on his feet in a mere second and glaring at his brother.

"You all right?" Rebekah asks me as she glances at me over his shoulder and I nod before she turns back to keep her eyes on Kol.

"What are you doing?" Kol asks Klaus indignantly. "It's Jen."

"Calm down, Kol," Klaus growls at him while I take deep breaths and steady myself on my own two feet, standing next to Rebekah. "It's not Jen."

Kol frowns at Klaus before smiling at him mockingly. "You do know it doesn't matter what color of hair she wears, it's still her."

"I'm a natural blonde, thank you very much," I defend myself and Kol turns his glare to me.

"She has _her_ necklace," Kol says through gritted teeth.

"It was passed down to me from my mother," I say giving him a sharp look. "It's _mine_."

"It's not Jen, Kol," Rebekah says, trying to have him calm down and he frowns at her, seeing that he seems to believe her word over Klaus'.

"What do you mean?" Kol asks as he glances at both of his siblings with a frown.

"She's Jen's descendant," says Rebekah.

"Her doppelgänger," says Klaus, keeping Kol from getting to me.

"What?" Kol asks, confused with the whole situation. His eyes turn to me, but they are no longer filled with anger, just confusion.

"Let's talk, brother," Klaus says as he grabs Kol's shoulder and leads him out of the room.

"Well, at least he didn't kill you," Rebekah tells me and I sigh.

"Yeah," I whisper and she turns to me.

"He'll come around," she says and I nod. "He just has to get to know you."

"Yeah, I wonder how long that'll take," I say with a small smile.

"Now, I need your help with something," Rebekah says with a smirk and I frown at her. "I'm itching for some well-deserved retribution."

* * *

**Finally, Kol appears and meets Gwen! Not the best reunion, but it's what happened. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and express yourselves. Give me your opinions.**

**Review, PM and whatnot! See ya later!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello, lovelies! Here is yet another chapter and I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for the reviews and remember that I own nothing of the Vampire Diaries, except for that which I write into the story**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

* * *

Rebekah had shared her small little plan to achieve her retribution and I had no reason not to help her with it. I waited for her to get a bath and change her clothes, noticing that Klaus had gone and purchased clothing for his siblings. After she was done and I updated her with what's happened these past weeks that she was daggered, we headed out of the mansion without telling anyone of our plans.

Presently, I stand in the parking lot of the hospital in Mystic Falls, walking around after I make sure where my target is, which is now getting in her car. I appear behind the car as its engine comes to life. I look around to make sure no one is around. I see the car beginning to back up and I concentrate on making it stop with my abilities, causing it to stop with a jerk.

I smirk as I hear the door of the car open and footsteps approaching. I step out from behind the car to stand right in front of a shocked Elena while I smirk at her with my arms crossed over my chest. Her whole body screamed that she is going to run, but her shocked demeanor is stopping her.

"Gwen?" she asks me with a surprised frown.

"Drive much?" I ask her. "Don't worry. She said she won't kill you; she'll only take a nip out of you." She stares at me with wide eyes before turning around to make a run for it, only to come face-to-face with an angry Rebekah.

"Rebekah," Elena manages to say before Rebekah grabs her by the neck and roughly pins her against her car.

"Surprised?" Rebekah hisses at her. "You drove a dagger through my back, Elena. It hurt." Rebekah's fangs grow as she goes to bite Elena, who screams. Suddenly, Rebekah's pulled away from Elena by Elijah, who was pinning his sister on the car next to a shaken Elena.

"Elijah," I say, not having expected him to appear as Rebekah glares at him.

"Leave," he says as he looks at Rebekah and then to me, "both of you." Elijah releases Rebekah as she composes herself, standing challengingly in front of him.

"Are you challenging me?" Elijah asks Rebekah with a knowing grin since he can surely outmatch Rebekah.

"You're pathetic," Rebekah says to her brother before glancing at Elena with a glare, "both of you." Rebekah looks at me and motions for us to leave. She blurs away in her supernatural speed and I disappear, my destination being the mansion.

* * *

I sigh as I serve myself some tea the morning after I helped Rebekah's failed attempt at getting back at Elena for—literally—stabbing her in the back, which was kind of a cheap shot since she was helping them kill her own brother, but she seems to have learned her lesson. We returned to the mansion to Rebekah's mother, Esther, waiting for us at the entrance and warning us not to attack any of the people that reside in Mystic Falls, which included Elena and her band of misfits.

I remember the strong aura that Esther carried about her after seeing her in modern clothes, not having expected to see her any time soon, but I couldn't help but be a bit intimidated by the way she carried herself with so much power, which she must have since she's the Original witch. She had scolded me and Rebekah, which only resulted in Rebekah and I being a bit upset at Esther's rule, more Rebekah than me since I honestly didn't care if Elena died or not, as long as she and her friends stop trying to kill Klaus and her family.

"Gwen Pierson, is it?" I jump at the British voice, glad I had a good grip on my cup of tea, turning to see Kol leaning against the doorway to the kitchen, grinning at me with his hands in his pockets. He seems to notice my wary look before saying, "No need for alarm. I promise not to attempt to kill you…for now."

I stare into his dark brown eyes, gulping at his presence being near me since he did try to kill me yesterday and I'm glad that my heart doesn't beat as wild as it would have if I was alive. I notice he changed to modern clothes, wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt with dark jeans and boots. When he had awoken from being daggered, his hair was slicked upward, but now he has it gelled out of his eyes. _Well, isn't he a stud,_ I think and shake my head in astonishment at the thought.

"That's comforting," I say before walking over to one of the chairs in the island, taking a seat and I see him walk over to the island, standing on the opposite side of me, his calculating eyes watching me like I was some prey.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know you weren't Jen," he says as he grins at me while I take a sip from my tea, which is also one of the few things that I enjoyed when I was alive and I can't help but at least keep doing things that remind me of moments when I was alive.

"It's all right," I say. "I was told you might react that way at any time you were to be un-daggered. It didn't surprise me that much."

"Well, in that case, Kol Mikaelson," he says as he grins at me while introducing himself, offering me his hand to take, but I felt like he wasn't giving me much of a choice.

"Gwen Pierson," I say with a small smile before placing my hand in his and he pulls it close to his lips while I frown at actually feeling the warmth of his skin. I stiffen as I watch him sniff my skin before placing a chaste kiss on it, his lips on my skin sending a foreign jolt throughout my body, releasing my hand before offering me a grin.

"You're quite intriguing, Gwen Pierson," he says with a smirk and I nod with a hesitant smile. "I hope you find it in your heart to look past that atrocious introduction of mine from the night before. I'd like to get to know you better before I decide if I should kill you."

I stiffen at his words as I narrow my eyes at him. "What?"

He grins. "I'm only joking." I release a shaky breath. "But it would be wise not to test me."

"I know better than that, but you should also know that I'm already dead, or did Nik forget to mention that?" I ask him and he hums.

"Right, you're already dead," he says, seeming to have forgotten about it. "So you're a special kind of ghost that is here, but not here."

I nod, taking a sip from my tea. "Yeah, it's a bit of a long story."

"Well, good thing we're going to be spending a lot of time together," he says with a smirk and I nod before he rounds the counter, coming to stand next to me, a bit too close for comfort while I lock my wary eyes with his amused ones.

I notice a frown growing on his face the longer we stare at one another. I don't know why, but he seems to be honestly intrigued with me, but I also notice the hidden anger that still resides in his eyes and it only unsettles me. This is the Original vampire that hates the woman whom I look like and it's confusing to me because I don't actually feel _afraid_ of him.

"Is everything in order?" I hear Elijah's voice and Kol glares past me before taking a step back before we turn to see Elijah standing on the doorway of the kitchen.

"Yes, I was only getting better acquainted with our resident ghost," Kol says and Elijah's skeptical eyes turn to me for confirmation.

"It's true, 'Lijah," I say with a smile.

"I was actually thinking of asking her to accompany me to tonight's ball when you so rudely interrupted, darling brother," Kol says as he grins at Elijah, but I frown at the mention of a ball.

"Ball?" I ask, looking between them as they turn to me. "What ball?"

"Yes, I was just coming to inform you about it, Miss Gwen," Elijah tells me and I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Our mother wishes to celebrate the reunion of our family and she has invited many from the town to attend. I was also coming to see if you would have given the honor of accompanying me, but Kol seems to have beaten me to it."

"Oh," I manage to say since I really didn't know what to say. "That came out of nowhere."

"What do you say, Miss Pierson?" Kol asks me with a smirk as I turn to him. "Care to be my date for tonight's ball?"

I open my mouth, not sure how to answer since I was completely caught off guard by this announcement of a ball and the offer of both Kol and Elijah. "Sure."

"Excellent," Kol says with a smug smirk, showing it to Elijah before turning back to me with a cheeky grin.

"Kol, it's required of us to be tailored for tonight, why don't you go ahead and start getting ready?" Elijah says, which sounded more of an order than a suggestion. Kol nods before taking his leave, giving Elijah a sharp look as he passes him.

"Good morning, Miss Gwen," Elijah says as he approaches me and I smile at him.

"Good morning, Elijah," I say. "I am not sorry for helping Rebekah get back at Elena. That Petrova shouldn't have daggered Rebekah like she did."

Elijah chuckles as I take a sip from my tea before he turns serious. "I was actually going to warn you about Kol since I heard about his attempt at your life the other night."

"What about him?" I ask with furrowed brows.

"He's unpredictable and quite obsessive as you may know," he says and I nod. "And once he has gotten what he's been obsessing about, he will become possessive. You wear the face of the woman who damaged him beyond repair, but now you're a woman who has acquired his interest and that is the easy part. You have spiked his interest and he won't discard you like he would to any other girl."

"What are you trying to say, Elijah?" I ask.

"Kol and Niklaus share many traits," he says. "I just want you to be careful around him. You may find yourself changing more than one member of my family and it may be much more difficult this time around, for Kol's temper rivals Niklaus'." I exhale through my nose before nodding at him.

"There you are!" I hear Rebekah say and turn to see her walking over to me. "We need to be getting ready for the ball."

"Excuse me," Elijah says as he nods at me. "I need to be preparing for it myself."

I nod at Elijah before he leaves, leaving me alone with Rebekah. "I can't exactly change clothes, Bex," I say as I leave my mug on the counter of the island.

"You do it all the time," she says with a frown.

"They change on their own and I can sometimes alter them a bit, but only if it doesn't require much change from the original style," I explain and she sighs while looking me up and down with a pensive look.

"We'll figure something out," she says and then narrows her eyes at me, which causes me to frown at her. "Did you accept being Kol's date for the ball? He bragged about it like a cocky teenager."

I purse my lips. "Maybe I did?"

"Nik's going to have a fit," she says with a grin and I chuckle.

"Most likely," I say.

"Come on, I want to work on you while I finish having my nails done," she says as she grabs my wrist and pulls me from my chair, leaving my tea on the counter of the island as she drags me along behind her.

"I can follow you, Bex," I tell her with a chuckle that she returns with a grin before entering a room where Elijah is being presented with some shoes while Kol is standing in front of a long mirror while trying on his black suit, his jacket being the only thing missing. Music is heard from some speakers in the room, setting some kind of mood.

"A few hours out of her box and she's already in trouble," Kol says as he grins at Rebekah before winking at me, causing me to look away to hide the tinge of red that must be on my cheeks as Rebekah sits on one of the couches where the manicurist is waiting for her.

"Shut up, Kol," Rebekah says as she glares at Kol's back in irritation, to which he smirks in the mirror since he sees her glaring at him.

I go to sit with Rebekah but I voice from behind says, "It is true then." I turn and I am met with a man between his twenties or thirties with brown hair that it is a bit longer than Elijah's or Kol's and it was slicked out of his face. He wears a severe, stern expression on his face that causes me to wring my wrists.

"Is what true?" I ask him with a frown.

"You are Jen's doppelgänger," he says. "You look just like her." I roll my eyes at being compared so much to my ancestor.

"I'm Gwen Pierson," I say with a smile, offering him my hand for him to shake.

"Finn Mikaelson," he says as he takes my hand and places a chaste kiss on my knuckles, smiling at me in return before releasing my hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," I say with a smile.

I feel waves of anger radiating from someone behind me as Finn passes me and I turn to find Kol glaring at Finn as he is worked on by the tailor. I decide to ignore this and walk over to the couch where Rebekah's nails are being done, taking a seat next to her and pulling my legs against my chest as I watch them all getting ready for the ball.

"Rebekah, tell me how handsome I am," Kol says after putting on his jacket while staring at himself in the mirror with a proud smirk.

"Oh, Kol," Rebekah says as she inspects her finished nails. "You know I can't be compelled." She and I share a grin as a door is slammed open and Klaus stalks into the room, glaring at me and Rebekah.

"You two went after Elena?" Klaus asks me and Rebekah, and I am taken aback by his angry tone but I understand it has to do with his need to make more stupid hybrids.

"She's fine, Nik," I say. "No need to fawn over the Petrova girl."

"What is wrong with you two?" he asks us as Rebekah and I roll our eyes at him while Kol turns to him, sitting on the armrest of an armchair, watching his brother scold me and Rebekah.

"Here we go," Rebekah says, smirking up at Klaus' glowering form.

"Do you want another dagger in your heart?" he threatens Rebekah, causing me to scowl at him.

"Again with the dagger threats?" Kol mocks Klaus, causing me to be amazed at his boldness at pushing Klaus when he's already upset as he comes to our defense. "Don't you have any other tricks?"

"Oh, go back to staring at yourself," Klaus says as he glances to Kol with a glare before turning back to glare at me and Rebekah.

"And who are you, my father?" Kol remarks with a smirk and I can't help but admire his bravery or foolishness—maybe both—for standing up to Klaus.

"No, Kol," Klaus says as he turns to his younger brother with a glare and approaches him menacingly. "But you're in my house."

"Then perhaps we should go outside," Kol says as he rivals Klaus by standing in front of him, not wavering from his stance while the rest of us watch expectantly, waiting for them to lunge at one another.

I see Esther stand on one of the doorways that lead into this room, staring at Klaus and Kol with stern eyes. "Enough," she says, causing Klaus and Kol to calm their bickering. "Niklaus." Klaus glances at her. "Come," she says before leaving out of our sight, Klaus following behind her after glaring at a smirking Kol.

"That was entertaining?" I ask and Rebekah huffs.

"Get used to it," says Rebekah. "This is something I didn't miss; the routine displays of dominance." I chuckle with her while her remaining brothers raise an eyebrow at us, but resume with their tasks of getting their outfits ready for tonight.

Klaus comes back into the room and looks at me. "Gwen, meet me in my room," he says before walking away while Rebekah frowns suspiciously after Klaus.

I disappear from being next to her and find myself in Klaus' room as the door of the room is opened to reveal Klaus entering, going straight for his walk-in closet.

"What are you doing?" I ask as I watch him go through the clothes hanged up on the closet.

"I may be upset that you went after Elena with Rebekah," he says as he grabs two garment bags and turns to another rack of clothing, "but I will not have you go to the ball without a dress."

"I can't change clothes, Nik," I say and Rebekah storms into the room.

"What's going on?" she says as Klaus grabs one more garment bag and goes over to his bed. "I am going to help her with her clothes, Nik. _Not you_."

"Do you even know how her clothes work, sister?" he asks her with a pointed look and Rebekah huffs in irritation. "You can help her pick out which she should alter her clothes to look like."

I raise my eyebrows in realization. "That's right. I can alter my clothes into something specific, as long as it looks like my clothes, even if it is just the color, but it'll tire me out if it requires too much altering, apart from the fact that I also have to concentrate on being visible."

"Well, no one said beauty is an easy chore," Rebekah says as she approaches the three garment bags on Klaus' bed.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it," Klaus says and he turns to leave.

"Wait," I call him and he turns to me with a raised eyebrow. "Who are you going to go with to the ball?"

"I thought of going with you," he says with a frown and I look down at the ground, not wanting to meet his eyes when he asks the inevitable. "You already have a date?"

"Maybe," I mumble as I continue to gaze at my boots, knowing that Rebekah must be smirking and Klaus must be frowning.

"Who are you going with?" he asks and I look up to him with his arms crossed over his chest and his face not faltering.

"No one important," I say with a nervous chuckle.

"She's going with Kol," Rebekah says, smirking at Klaus and I elbow her ribs, which didn't do much.

"Rebekah," I hiss at her.

"What?" Klaus asks as he glares at me.

"He asked me when I was told of the ball and I was confused," I say, trying to calm him, which didn't seem to be working. "I agreed to go with him as his date."

"He tried to kill you last night," Klaus reason.

"I'm already dead, Nik," I say. "And he didn't try to kill me this morning."

"She can go with whomever she wants, Niklaus," says Rebekah. "Besides, you don't want to ruin mother's night by throwing a little temper tantrum, do you?"

Klaus releases a huge breath as he glares at the both of us. "Fine, I'll find someone else." He practically stomps out of the room and Rebekah smirks victoriously.

"What about Caroline?" I yell after he leaves, laughing with Rebekah at the idea of Klaus listening to me.

"Let's go to my room," she says as she grabs the garment bags. "We don't need to be exposed to Nik's remarks while we work on ourselves."

I follow her to her room, which was two doors down from Nik's, taking in that it's a rather cozy room with a canopy bed, fit for a princess. I watch her place the garment bags on her bed and unzips them. The first one I did not like since it was gray like my leggings and I wanted something that didn't say that I was a ghost.

"I don't want anything gray," I say. "It just screams I'm dead and a ghost."

"I agree," she says zipping up the first dress and throwing it over the back of the chair of her vanity. I look over at the second one and scrunch up my nose since it was white, Rebekah noticing my expression. "Looks like you're going to be Kol's bride."

"Yeah, I'd rather know the guy for at least a year before even thinking about that," I say and she zips that one up before placing it over the gray one.

"I think you might like the last one," says Rebekah. "I would've worn it if I didn't have a dress I already adore."

I look at the last one and I couldn't help but stare at it with a small smile. It's actually perfect for tonight. The dress is cream like the color of my cardigan and ugg boots. The dress has a bodice with off-shoulder, cap sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. The bust is trimmed with draped multicolored crystals. It also has a crystal accent around the waist and complements the bottom half. It has an A-line skirt made out of layered tulle that creates a two toned effect.

"It's perfect," I whisper with a smile as I lightly trace my finger on the skirt of the dress, glad that it's something I can alter my clothes to look like.

"You're sure to knock my brothers off their feet," Rebekah says with a grin and I chuckle at her. "Let's talk hair and make-up."

* * *

"Are you done, Bex?" I ask, frustrated at the amount of time that Rebekah has spent putting make-up on me and doing my hair. "Nik said the guests are arriving."

"Well, we'll be fashionably late," Rebekah says and I am glad she already did her own make-up and hair. We just need to finish with my hair and put on our dresses. "Besides, we're going to be the models of the night, the queens and everything as such."

I chuckle. "Well, your words better hold true."

"Trust me, they will," she says and steps away from behind me, moving my chair so I am staring at myself in the mirror if her vanity.

I frown at myself, not recognizing at who I was looking at in the mirror, even though Rebekah didn't used much make-up. I haven't dressed up like this for anything in my life, not even for my Prom Night. My bangs were swept across my forehead and I turn to the side to see my hair in a messy bun with a braid wrap. Strands of my hair fall around my face, framing it in their small waves.

"Thanks, Bex," I say as I look up to her and she smiles down at me. "I remember my Mom dressing me up for Prom Night. I only went because my parents wanted me to enjoy my last year at school since they couldn't because she got pregnant with me. I went for them."

"That was a perfect thing to do," she says with a toothy grin that I return before standing up to hug her.

"Thanks, Bex," I say and I pull away to have a better look at her. "You look hot, hot and hot."

We chuckle before she walks over to her dress, which was on her bed. "_We_ look hot, hot and hot," she says as she grabs her dress. "I'm only happy to have you, Weny. I was raised with brothers and it's good to have a sister for a change."

"I admire you for that," I say and we laugh. "I don't know if I could have survived."

"Probably because I spent a lot of time daggered and stowed in a coffin. Well, let's get dressed," she says. "I'll take the bathroom and you…" she says as she looks at my dress and then at me. "You do what you need to do to put your dress on."

I nod at her before she enters her bathroom and I stand in front of my dress that is on Rebekah's bed. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, brushing the tip of my fingers on the dress as I envision myself with the dress on and wearing cream heels instead of the usual clothes that I always wear.

I open my eyes and look down at the bed, noticing my dress there before looking down at myself. I smile as I notice my clothes are finishing altering as my dress takes shape from the form of mist that appears when my clothes alter or when I disappear. I could feel the heaviness of altering my clothes so much as if I am carrying a backpack full of books. I shrug it off, making sure I am also visible for when we go to the party.

I look to the bathroom door when it's opened and match Rebekah's smile as we look at one another. "You look so beautiful," we say in unison, to which we laugh.

Rebekah frowns at me as she approaches me. "You can't change the color of your necklace?"

"No, I can't," I say and she nods. "I can't even add any other accessories on me; they just disappear."

"Well, at least it matches the dress in a way," she says as she nods at me in approval, to which I smile. "Now, let's go knock them dead."

I chuckle as we link arms before leaving her room. The closer we go to where the party is being hosted, the louder the classical music gets. We arrive to the top of the staircase with the railing decorated with lights and I stare at the amount of people that have arrived and that are scattered around the lobby. The women are dressed in dresses like Rebekah's and my own while the men wear tuxedos with dress shoes.

"I'm already dead, so no need to be nervous," I mumble to myself and Rebekah chuckles.

"The jitters will leave you once you mingle," Rebekah says before leading us to the stairs and some heads turn to us, but I keep my head held high like Rebekah's as we descend the stairs, noticing many eyes on us.

I keep one hand linked with Rebekah's and the other holding to the railing of the stairs. I suddenly feel intense eyes on me and I look down to the crowd of people to lock eyes with Kol, who turns back to Damon with a smirk, saying something before walking away from him, meeting me and Rebekah at the bottom of the stairs. He wears a black tuxedo with black dress shoes, his only other accessory being his daylight ring on his right middle finger.

"Well, I'm going to look for my date," Rebekah says, winking at me before leaving me alone with Kol.

"You look smashing, my dear Gwen Pierson," he says as he takes my hand in his before placing his lips on my skin, giving it a chaste kiss without breaking eye contact with me.

I smile at him, frowning slightly at the warmth his skin exhibits onto my own, which is odd since I don't normally feel warmth or anything when I come into contact with other people. Even if he did try to kill me and I am told that he is dangerous, I can't help but be intrigued with Kol and the things he is making me feel that I never thought I'd ever feel again after my death.

I nod at him with a smile as he keeps a hold of my hand. "Well, you look quite dashing, Kol Mikaelson. I hope that didn't inflate your ego, but it's the truth."

"I do clean up quite nicely," he says with a grin and I shake my head at his arrogance.

"I should hold back on complimenting you, shouldn't I?" I ask and he smirks before looping my arm in the crook of his elbow.

"I don't mind you admiring me, but my siblings might disagree," he says as he leads us to the bar and I notice some men's gazes staying on me for a bit too long to my liking.

"I wonder why," I ask as we stand in front of the bar and he orders drinks for us while I keep my hand looped around his elbow. I frown as a thought comes to my mind. "It doesn't bother you?"

He frowns at me before giving me a glass and taking him one for himself. "What do you mean?"

"That I look like Jen," I say as I swirl the drink in my glass, "the woman you hate."

He takes a sip from his drink and shrugs. "It bothers me a bit," he says as he swirls his drink in his glass while I take a sip. "But I should heed Elijah's and Nik's word, and get to know you, even though I didn't want anything to do with you."

I frown as I felt a pang of hurt in my chest at his words before un-looping my arm from his elbow. "You don't seem like the type to do as what you're told, so don't," I say, feeling a bit disappointed since I was looking forward to get to know him while he is being forced to get to know me and he doesn't shy away from displaying how irritated he is about it. "I'm gonna go look for Nik."

I turn away from him and the blank look on his face with my drink, determined to find Klaus and stay away from Kol since he doesn't want anything to do with me; I should just make things easier for both of us. I manage to find Klaus leaning on his elbow on one of the high tables a bit far off from the bar with a brunette trying to get his attention while he seems quite irritated. I walk over to him and—once he notices me—he smiles at me, turning to the brunette and saying something to her before she leaves with a straight face, appearing disappointed and annoyed.

I smile at him, noticing that—unlike his brothers' tuxedos—his vest is white. "You scrub up nicely, Mouse," I say as I stand in front of him.

"You look mesmerizing, Cat," he says as he kisses my cheek and pulls back with a frown. "Where's Kol? I thought you said he was your date."

"Well, I decided that I'll be his date, but will make sure not to bother him since he is being forced by you and Elijah to get to know me," I say as I stare at his blank look, meaning that I caught him red-handed. "You didn't think I wouldn't find out?"

"I'm sorry, Cat," he says before sighing. "I didn't want him to make you uncomfortable or threaten your life again."

"So you told him to pretend to get to know me, which is so fun and not insulting at all," I say.

"He's volatile," he counters.

"That's part of getting to know people, Nik," I say. "And you're no saint."

"I know," he sighs. "I'm sorry."

I nod at him with a small smile. "It's all right." He nods at me and I frown at him since he's alone. "Where's _your_ date? I want to meet her."

He opens his mouth to answer, but he turns his head automatically. I follow his eyes and see Caroline standing a few feet in front of us wearing a beautiful blue dress with white gloves and little jewelry. Her hair is in a simple messy bun with bangs loose on the front. I see her notice us and walks towards us with her head held eye, Klaus meeting her halfway, to which I grin.

Not two seconds after he opens his mouth to greet her, she responds and excuses herself with Klaus' eyes following her form as it disappears into the crowd. I walk over to him with a grin and he rolls his eyes at me when I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

"Caroline?" I ask as he avoids looking at me. "You actually listened to me?"

"She's the only other person I enjoy the company of, apart from you, of course," he says and I frown at him.

"You don't even know her that well," I say and his eyebrows rise, to which I frown at him. "Tell me you didn't stalk her or looked into information about her." He looks at me and his eyes say everything his mouth doesn't. "Unbelievable."

"I only checked her importance to the town," he says and I raise an eyebrow at him. "And it is quite important."

"Really? What is it?" I ask with my arms crossed over my chest.

He sighs as he hesitates answering me. "She's…Miss Mystic Falls."

I snort at him while covering my mouth with my hand and he glares at me, but I honestly didn't care. The first girl Klaus shows to have any interest in and he doesn't know how to even have a conversation with her. And it doesn't help that she's siding with the people that want to kill him. Seeing him try to talk to her was like watching a shy boy ask out his crush.

"You could've asked her yourself," I say and he nods.

"Yes, well, I decided the easier route," he says as he takes my drink and downs it in one gulp before leaving it on one of the high tables. "Let's mingle." He loops my hand in the crook of my elbow, leading us into the crowd of people. _This is going to be a long night,_ I think with a small smile.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

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**See ya later!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Yay, October is here with premieres of many series and another chapter! It's only been a month and we've already covered fourteen chapters! Well, I hope you enjoy this one like the rest.**

**Remember, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious stuff. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

* * *

"If everyone could gather please," Elijah says from the staircase, catching the attention of everyone after he clinks his glass with his ring.

Kol stands on a step higher than the rest of us with a drink in his hand. Klaus stands a step below him with his own drink in his hand. I stand a step below Klaus between him and Kol with Elijah and Rebekah a step below me while Finn comes to stand a step below Rebekah. Each one of them have a drink in their hands while I wring my wrists nervously at the crowd looking at us, but I maintain my head held high like Rebekah, keeping my composure steady.

"Welcome," Elijah greets everyone. "Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this," he says as he motions to Esther, who stands a step above Kol, "it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a century-old waltz." A small smile grows on my lips when he says the type of dance we would be dancing to since it's one of the few that I like. "So if all of you could find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."

Elijah, Rebekah and Finn descend the stairs, already knowing who they'll be dancing with. I wanted to dance, but I wasn't going to have Klaus dance with me to keep me company when he seriously needed to spend time with a potential love interest to get into her good side and Kol didn't want anything to do with me, so I'd have to find a partner of my own, which is not how I expected to spend the night. Well, I didn't even imagine how I would spend the night.

"Cat?" Klaus asks me as he stands next to me on the stairs, offering me his elbow to loop my arm with, but I shake my head.

"Go dance with Caroline, she's your date," I say and he drops his elbow with a pout on his lips. "You need to get to know her and try to be as open as you can be with her. You need to get on her good side and dancing with me isn't going to help you at all. You did invite her to be your date tonight and it would be rude to not dance with her."

"You're sure?" he asks as he narrows his eyes at me. "I know you like to dance to this."

I nod at him with a forced smile and he hesitates to leave since he must see right through me, but I give him an annoyed look that has him sighing before going down the steps to look for Caroline. I begin to descend the stairs, but a gentle and warm grip around my wrist stops me before I could make it to the bottom, causing goosebumps to appear throughout my body upon contact.

I look to my side to face Kol, tilting my head in irritation before taking my hand out of his grip. "What is it?" I ask him sharply, to which he frowns while I look around to try and find a possible dance partner but not really looking since I have Kol's intense essence so near me.

"You're my date to this ball," he says and I turn to him as he glares at me. "That entails that we dance together, does it not?"

"I thought you didn't want anything to do with me," I say as I glare back at him. "I'm just making it easier for you by staying out of your way."

He opens his mouth to retort but releases a heavy sigh as his gaze softens a bit. "I said I _didn't_ want anything to do with you, but I changed my mind," he says and I huff.

"Just like that?" I ask incredulously and he nods as if it was that easy for someone to change their mind, which it may be for some.

"I was rude when you were being everything but rude and I apologize for my behavior," he says and I frown, eyeing him warily since I didn't think I'd be getting an apology from him.

I sigh, not wanting to be upset or hold a grudge on a night that is meant to be fun. "Forgiven," I say as I look anywhere but at his eyes that are so intense when they bore into mine.

"Well, can you at least look at me so I can ask you to dance?" he asks and I take a deep breath before meeting his eyes, which results in my breath catching and my inability to _not_ become lost in them. "Will you, Miss Pierson, do me the honor of sharing this dance with me?" he asks as he holds his hand out for me to take, grinning.

I purse my lips, taking a deep and unnecessary breath before placing my hand in his. "I will, Mr. Mikaelson," I answer as his grin widens and I loop my arm around his elbow before he leads us into the ballroom where the dance is to take place.

The ballroom practically took my breath away with the beautiful chandelier on the ceiling, lighting the whole room. The light in the room isn't too bright, giving it a bit of a dim atmosphere to set the mood of the type of dance, to which I could only smile at this. The dance floor is cleared with people standing on the sidelines, waiting for the dance to begin since they are the audience.

Kol and I take our positions behind Damon and Elena and in front of Finn and his partner in a line parallel to another that is also composed of couples. My hands are holding Kol's as they cross one another while we stand next to each another. The song begins to play, which I recognize as 'Give Me Love' by Ed Sheeran and we begin the dance by taking steps forward.

_Give me love like her,_

"I cannot stress enough how stunning you look tonight, Miss Pierson," I hear Kol say as I keep my gaze forward.

'_Cause lately I've been waking up alone,_

Once we turn to face the other line, I glance at him and smile as he gives me a lopsided smile. "Hope that wasn't forced out of you as well," I say with a small bow like everyone else does, but I do it while staring at Kol and he doesn't do it at all since he keeps his eyes on me. We turn our gaze forward before we step forward to go through a gap between Elijah with his date and Rebekah with Matt, taking the place of where the other line was.

_Paint splattered teardrops on my shirt,_

"Like you said," he says as we stood in a line once more behind Damon and Elena, taking one more step before he twirls me to take me into his arms, leaving a bit of space between our bodies. "I'm not the type of person who does as he's told."

_Told you I'd let them go,_

He holds my right hand in his left while my left hand is on his right shoulder and his right hand was on my back. I can't help but enjoy his presence and the warmth that his hand emanates into mine, the warmth that his whole body emanates into mine. I'm glad that I am keeping a good control over my nervousness, apart from concentrating on my dress and keeping myself visible to humans, which is actually beginning to weigh a little on me. The other thing that has me amazed and intrigued is how powerful and intense Kol's whole being is. I can't explain how much it affects me since all I feel is a tightening of my throat and my insides are in a disarray, but I know I don't want to stop from being engulfed by his gaze or _him_, they're too warm for me to let go.

_And that I'll fight my corner,_

"What now?" I ask as we begin to dance, composing a circle with the other couples from the line we were a part of. The line that was parallel to ours formed its own circle next to ours as we all dance in sync to the song, each couple taking slow and careful steps.

_Maybe tonight I'll call you,_

"What do you mean?" he asks with a playful frown as we continue to waltz.

_After my blood turns into alcohol,_

"Do you still want nothing to do with me?" I ask, not even knowing how I am talking like this to him as we keep our eyes locked to one another, my jade-green with his brown ones.

_No, I just wanna hold ya_

"Well, I didn't at first, but I changed my mind," he says. "Like I said this morning, you intrigue me. You have _her_…face, but the more I look at you, the less I see _her_. I do want to get to know you, Miss Pierson, even if it might be torture."

"What if I refuse?" I ask and his grip on my hand tightens, causing me to frown at his intense eyes that narrow at me.

_Give a little time to me or burn this out,_

"You have little choice in the matter," he says with a smirk.

"All right," I say, not wanting to push his buttons. "What is the first thing you want to know about me?"

"Are you in an intimate relationship with Klaus?" he asks and I could've sworn I almost heard him growl out the question while I frown at him with a smile.

_We'll play hide and seek to turn this around,_

I chuckle at his question, which is a preposterous one. "No," I say after calming down. "No offense to him, but I would never think of him in _that_ way."

"It's understandable," he says with a smug smirk. "Why go to him, if you have me."

_All I want is the taste that your lips allow,_

I give him an annoyed look. "Arrogance isn't very attractive."

"You think I'm attractive?" he asks smugly.

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_

"I did say you look dashing earlier," I say, matching his smirk.

"That was before I made you run off," he says. "What do you say now?"

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_

"I say that you're a dashing, arrogant Original vampire," I say and his face becomes blank. "But you're a true gentleman whenever you want to be, which may not be always."

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_

He chuckles while I smile up at him since he practically towers over me. "I like pretty little things with sharp tongues," he says and I shake my head at him with a small smile on my lips before it is time to change partners.

_My, my, my, my, give me love,_

We grab each other's hands before taking a step back from one another before he twirls me into the arms of another man. I take the same position with the man and we begin to waltz, the circles breaking since more people join the dance. I look up at my new partner and shake my head when I see Klaus smirking at me.

_Give me love like never before,_

"Is it destiny that we always end up dancing together in any dance that we go to?" I ask with a grin.

'_Cause lately I've been craving more,_

"I believe it is," he says as he twirls me around, to which I chuckle.

_And it's been a while but I still feel the same,_

"How did it go with Caroline?" I ask.

_Maybe I should let you go,_

He sighs. "It went better than when she first arrived."

_You know I'll fight my corner,_

"Well, I have to say that she looks beautiful tonight," I say honestly as I manage to catch a glance of her. "Do remind her that I will hurt her if you come to harm by her hand or if she's involved in some way."

_And that tonight I'll call ya,_

"Of course," he says with a grin. "I also gave her everything she's wearing."

_After my blood turns into alcohol,_

My eyebrows rise in shock and I smile at him. "You gave her the dress she's wearing?"

_No, I just wanna hold ya_

"And the bracelet that I took from that princess that was rather too infatuated with me. I told you about her, right?" he says and I nod with pursed lips. "She practically gave it to me as a gift after I provided some private services."

_Give a little time to me or burn this out,_

"Well, at least you know how to be straightforward, but try to refrain from mentioning old flames," I say. "It's good that you're clear with your intentions, it won't confuse Caroline that much. Teenage boys these days are rather confusing when flirting with a girl."

_We'll play hide and seek to turn this around,_

"That's the difference," he says with a smirk. "I'm no boy."

_All I want is the taste that your lips allow,_

I chuckle as I shake my head at him. "Well, keep her company, compliment her, be open and—most importantly—control your temper; it's not attractive when you're aggressive with a girl that already dislikes you."

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he asks and I frown at him playfully.

_Give a little time to me or burn this out,_

_We'll play hide and seek to turn this around,_

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say with an innocent smile as he narrows his eyes at me. "I'm just your friend, who is supporting you in your decision to go after a girl that _might_ be good for you. It's not every day you decide to be interested in a girl that won't turn out to be food or some random one night stand."

_All I want is the taste that your lips allow,_

"You do know she's a vampire, right? She might be hearing us," he asks and I look around, finding Caroline dancing with Matt and laughing at something he said, which means she didn't hear us.

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_

"She's too preoccupied with her human friend," I say. "Remember to not screw it up."

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_

_My, my, my, my, oh give me love_

* * *

"Care for a drink?" I hear a distinctive British voice ask and I turn to see Kol smirking at me after the dance was over while I stand next to a high table near many others with people using them for support or to place their drinks on them.

"Sure," I say with a smile.

"I'll be back," he says before turning to leave and get our drinks.

"There you are," I hear Rebekah huff and I turn to see her standing next to me, looking frustrated and I smile at her.

"What's wrong?" I ask her with a frown at the irritation in her eyes.

"I need you to help me with something," she says, causing me to frown.

"With what?" I ask warily.

"You didn't think I brought Matt here because he's cute, did you? Well, he is, but that's not the point," she asks as she grins at me, making me frown at her. "I brought him here to kill him and get back at Elena, but I can't since mother already scolded me already."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "I was scolded too, so I can't help you either."

"Right," she says, sighing in defeat as she looks around at the crowd of people.

"Well, Elijah will most surely not help you," I say and she turns to me with a frown. "You're still upset with Nik, Finn's too…" I try to look for a word, but decided to leave it hanging. "Why not ask Kol? He seems to be itching for some excitement and I don't blame him. This night is going a bit too slow for me."

"Not a bad idea," she says as she looks around, probably looking for Kol.

"He's getting me a drink," I say and she turns to me with a raised eyebrow. "You can find him at the bar."

"You two are getting close," she says with a smirk and I roll my eyes at her.

"Yeah, I'm getting close to the man that almost killed me last night," I say sarcastically.

"You're already dead," she says and I sigh.

"Not in the mood for this type of discussion," I sing with a small smile and she shrugs before taking her leave.

A bit after Rebekah left me on my own, a dark-haired man approaches me with a smirk and a drink in his hand while wearing a tuxedo. His hair is slicked out of his face and his eyes are a light shade of brown. I sigh, knowing where this is going and hoping it doesn't end badly for him since Klaus is very protective and Kol is growing to be as unpredictable as I have been told he is.

"Hello, beautiful," he says as he extends a hand for me to shake, discarding his drink on the table next to me.

I smile and shake his hand in greeting. "Hello."

"Why is a beautiful girl like you all by herself?" he asks as he grins at me.

"My date went to get me a drink," I say. "He should be back any second now."

"Well, it's his loss," the man says and I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the look of lust on his face. "Why don't you come with me? I bet we can have a lot more fun."

"No, thanks," I say with a forced smile.

"Come on," he insists. "I'll be gentle."

"I won't," I hear Kol say from behind the man, holding two drinks in his hand while scowling at the dark-haired man that is flirting with me. "That is, unless you remove yourself or I'll make you, mate."

"Kol," I say, wanting to calm him down since his glare made a shiver run down my spine as the man turns to Kol, challenging him with his height, which is only an inch shorter than Kol's.

"Why don't you make me, _mate_?" the man says and Kol smirks at him before handing me a glass, grasping one of the man's wrist in his and I hear the sound of bone beginning to break.

"Oh, I'm going to," Kol says as he glares at the whimpering man, miraculously not bringing any attention to us.

"Kol, stop it," I whisper as I stand next to him while he continues to tighten his hold on the man's wrist. "Kol."

"I'm just teaching him a lesson on not to woo another man's girl," Kol snarls lowly at the whimpering man, who has managed to stand on his two feet, but close to falling on the floor.

"Kol, please," I say as I place a hand on his arm, to which he turns to me, eyeing me up and down before he sighs with irritation. He loosens his grip on the man's arm, who releases a sigh of relief before Kol pulls him up to his eye level by the man's collar.

"**Remember nothing of what has transpired between you, me and my girl,**" he says as he compels the man before the latter turns to leave through the crowd.

"Was that necessary?" I ask him with a sharp look and he smirks at me.

"He should've known better than to think he could've bedded you," he says and I frown. "I saw the lust in his eyes."

"Yes, and that's what normally any man these days thinks about," I say and he shrugs.

"I could care less what men think about these days," he says as he glares out into the crowd. "You're here with me, they should know better than to try anything."

"You could've just compelled him to leave and forget me instead of almost ripping out his arm," I counter and he turns to me with a smirk.

"Where's the fun in that?" he asks with a grin and I roll my eyes at him.

"You're unbelievable," I say as I take a sip from my drink. "And I thought Nik was difficult enough."

"I'm worse," he says smugly and I shake my head at him with a small smile managing to grow on my lips. "How long have you been by my brother's side?"

"This would be the sixth year," I say as we turn to one another. "You can say I've been haunting him."

He chuckles. "I thought you were a friendly ghost."

"Most of the time," I say as I grin at him and we both take a sip from our drink.

"So," he begins, "you recommended me to my sister?"

"Yes, I did," I say. "I can't help her. I don't like killing and I am already on probation."

He frowns. "Then how did you stay by Niklaus' side for so long? He kills an entire town at least once a day."

"He never did it in my presence," I say. "I did know he killed, but I was never anywhere near from where the deed was done."

"That's surprising," he says and I frown at him.

"Why?" I ask.

"I never knew Klaus would go out of his way to please anyone," he says and I shrug.

"I never asked him to," I say and his brows furrow at me. "He knew I didn't like death, so he kept me from it. Although, he sometimes didn't care and did it anyway in my presence, which only provoked an argument between us."

"I bet he lost every single time," Kol says with a smirk.

"I don't know," I say with a shrug. "We always chose to never linger on arguments, but he did grovel from time to time." I smile as he chuckles, probably at the image of Klaus groveling.

"Well," he says as he drinks the rest of the contents in his glass in one gulp, placing the glass on one of the tables. "I do believe it's time to kill a human. Be right back." He leaves and I shake my head at his retreating back.

I sigh, worrying about this little plan that Rebekah and Kol are part of. Esther did say that no human of Mystic Falls should come to harm by her children's hands or my own but neither Kol nor Rebekah seem to mind. Esther could punish them harshly or not at all, but I seriously don't want to find out, but the punishment can't be too bad since Rebekah and Kol don't seem to mind breaking Esther's rule.

"Miss Gwen," I turn and I face Elijah, hoping he didn't hear Kol's parting words to me.

"Elijah," I greet with a smile.

"I am sorry for taking so long to be acquainted with you tonight," he says as he grabs my hand and places a chaste kiss on my knuckles before releasing it. "You look strikingly beautiful on this evening."

"Thank you," I say with a smile. "You look quite handsome yourself, 'Lijah."

He nods with a smile on his lips before his face turns serious. "Once again, I require your aid, Miss Gwen." I frown and nod for him to continue. "I believe my mother is lying about this…thing about wanting to make our family whole. I do not think her forgiving Niklaus was true."

"I agree since she is a witch, someone who is supposed to hate vampires and Nik did kill her," I say. "I don't buy her act."

"She requested Elena to speak with her alone," Elijah says and I scoff, knowing where this might be going.

"That is reason enough to know that something's up," I say.

"Yes, it is," he says with a nod. "I have asked Elena to tell me what my mother will say to her."

"You think she will?" I ask with a frown. "What if she helps Esther in whatever she's planning and lies to you?"

"I will notice if she lies," he says with a grin and I nod, impressed with his subtle plan, which is risking a lot since Esther could be planning something right at this moment that could harm her children.

"What am I to help you with?" I ask.

"Time will tell," he says. "I just want to make sure that I have your support."

"Like always," I say and he nods at me with a smile.

"Thank you, Miss Gwen," he says. "I admire your unwavering loyalty." I tilt my head at him with a smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take care of some things." I nod and he turns to leave, leaving me on my own.

Not very long after Elijah left, Kol joins me with an irritated look on his face that causes me to raise an eyebrow at him in question, wondering what got him into a sour mood. I offer him my glass and he takes it, gulping down the contents in one sip, to which I widen my eyes in surprise at how upset he seems to be.

"You okay?" I ask him and he shrugs, not looking at me.

"Nothing of importance at the moment," he says with a glare on his features before placing a hand on my back. "I think my mother's about to make her toast." I nod before he leads me away from the corner where the tables and the bar were and into the crowd in the lobby of the mansion; I come to stand between him and Finn.

"You seem irritated," I point out and Kol glares at me, to which I roll my eyes at him as a waiter approaches us with a tray in one hand that has champagne in glasses.

"He's always in a sour mood when he doesn't get what he wants, Miss Pierson," says Fin. "He's also irritating."

Kol glares at Finn and leaves his empty glass on the tray before grabbing two glasses with champagne from the tray, handing me one of them and I nod at him in thanks as the waiter leaves. Finn grabs the other glass as he offers me a small and forced smile that I return with a small smile of my own.

"Just bored," Kol says and I become nervous, knowing that a bored Kol is an unstable and unpredictable Kol. "Besides, it's better to be irritating than depressing like you, darling brother." Finn only glares at his grinning younger brother.

"The party must lighten up," I say hopefully as I change the topic and both Mikaelsons raise an eyebrow at me, noticing my change in topic.

"I've been to these kinds of parties before," says Kol. "It doesn't matter what century it is, the excitement dies down after the dancing is over."

"I thought it was already over," Finn says and I smile at the banter between the brothers, which is interesting since they seem to have contrasting personalities.

I hear a glass clinking, causing everyone to look up in search of the origin of the sound. We all turn our eyes to Esther as she stands somewhere in the middle of the staircase with her own glass in hand while smiling down at everyone in the lobby, including me.

"Good evening, ladies and gentleman," she says, holding her glass in one hand while keeping the other on the banister of the stairs. "Waiters are coming around with champagne." As Esther said, waiters are giving everyone a new glass filled with champagne, taking the old ones with them. "I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers."

"Cheers," many people say in unison and they raise their glasses after Esther raised hers before everyone begins to take a sip from the champagne.

Kol turns to me with a grin. "Cheers," he says as he clinks his glass with mine and I smile in return.

"Cheers," I say before we take a sip of the champagne, which is tasteless to me.

* * *

"Enjoying yourself?" Rebekah asks me as we walk around with no destination in mind. "I haven't seen Kol so infatuated with anyone as much as he is with you in all our thousand years of immortality."

I frown at her as I feel a light blush appear on my cheeks and I shake my head. "Well, I am enjoying the night, but it has kind of died down and your brother is good company."

"I thought so," she says with a grin and I roll my eyes at her with a smile.

"There you are," I hear Kol say from behind, to which Rebekah and I turn around to face him as he looks at Rebekah with a frown while motioning to the entrance of the mansion with his hand. "I was waiting outside for you. Where's Matt?"

I frown at him and look at Rebekah. "You haven't killed him?"

"About that," Rebekah says as she glances at me before turning to Kol with an uncertain look, her face turning defensive. "I, uh…I changed my mind. I don't want to ruin mother's night."

"Don't tell me you like this boy," Kol says while giving Rebekah a hard look. "And what did he do, he gave you five seconds of his attention?" He sighs in irritation before glaring at his sister. "Don't be so predictable, Rebekah."

"You don't have to be rude about it," Rebekah says through gritted teeth, rivaling Kol's hard look. "Just leave him be, okay?" I sigh and she takes her leave.

"As you wish, sister," he says as she walks away.

"It was wrong of you to treat her that way," I say to Kol and he rolls his eyes at me. "You're still going to kill him, aren't you?"

"You're in the right, Miss Pierson," he says and turns to walk away and I take notice of the people beginning to leave.

"Gwen," I turn at Klaus' voice, seeing him stand in front of me with a furious look.

"What happened?" I ask him and he exhales loudly, trying to keep calm.

"Caroline rejected my advances and I was being open with her like you said," he says and I am taken aback by his sharp tone. "That woman is stubborn and is only a foolish young girl."

"What did you do?" I demand from him and it's his turn to be taken aback.

"I showed her my drawings, complimented her and even offered to take her around the world to show her that which she deserves," he says and I groan at him. "What?"

"You're an idiot," I say as I flick his forehead, causing him to frown at me indignantly. "You should have stuck to showing her your drawings and complimenting her, but don't offer to take her on a trip. Look at it from her perspective. She'd be going on a trip with a man that has been nothing but polite, but the one who still seems to be ruining the lives of her friends, which I disagree on."

"I might also be the reason for having ended her relationship with Tyler," he says and I roll my eyes at him.

"Even worse," I say.

He huffs angrily, knowing that I am right. "What now?"

"You're the most stubborn person I have ever met in my life," I say with a wide grin. "If you really like this girl, don't give up so easily, but do tell her about my threat." He grins back at me, but it changes into a frown as he tilts his head to the side, which causes me to frown at him. "What's wrong?"

He turns and begins walking to the front door and I follow him, noticing his siblings going towards it as well as Stefan opens the front door in a hurry. We begin to pile out to see Damon standing over a limp Kol. I look around and I'm glad that the area is empty.

"Damon," Stefan calls. Damon stands up and steps away from Kol's body as he looks at us staring at him before looking at his brother. "What are you, crazy?" Stefan asks as we all stand at the front door, staring at the older Salvatore's crazed look as Elena joins us outside with a shawl around her shoulders.

"Maybe a little," Damon says as he turns to Elena. "Far be it for me to cause a problem."

Damon turns from us and walks away from us while I raise an eyebrow in question at whatever in the world is going on with Elena and the Salvatores since she now seems to be siding with Stefan instead of siding with Damon, which makes her look a lot like Katerina. _Oh, well,_ I think. _History does love to repeat itself._

* * *

I sit on a coffee table in one of the many living rooms in this mansion with the fireplace lit behind me as I stare at Kol's limp form on the couch in front of me. I sigh as I hold a mug filled with blood from the many blood bags Klaus has in the fridge in both of my hands, waiting for him to wake up to give it to him.

I now wear my regular clothing after Kol was deposited unceremoniously on the couch by Klaus, leaving me to tend to Kol after he wakes. I felt relieved that I no longer had to force my clothes to be altered nor concentrate on being visible to humans at the same time since it is very tiring. I look down at the red liquid in the mug, sighing in exhaustion as I feel my body begin to slump.

I jump when I hear Kol gasp awake, groaning as he rubs his sore neck with squinting eyes. I watch as he sits up, grunting as he places his feet on the floor, looking up at me while he continues to rub his neck.

"What happened?" he asks as he looks around with a frown. "Is the party over?"

"Yeah," I answer and I hold out the mug for him and he takes it. "Damon broke your neck and Nik put you here."

"That Salvatore's dead," he says while glaring at nothing in particular before taking a sip from the mug.

"You'll do no such thing," Elijah says as he enters the room, the anger evident on his face as he approaches the back of the couch with Rebekah following behind him, both of them still wearing the clothes they wore for the ball. Rebekah looks down at the floor while Kol rolls his eyes. "Miss Gwen, mind giving me a moment with my siblings?"

"Sure," I say, disappearing from the room and appearing in Klaus' art studio, finding him sketching on his pad on one of his couches, still wearing his tux but without the jacket and vest.

"Elijah's giving them a lecture?" he asks with a smirk and I appear next to him on the couch with my legs crossed.

"Most likely," I say. "He seemed very angry."

"Probably because our mother was furious and it only served to fuel his own anger," Klaus says and I nod as I frown at what he's sketching, which is the face of Caroline.

"I take it you're smitten?" I ask with a grin, to which he stops sketching for a second before resuming once more. "Did you find her before she left?"

"No," he exhales. "But I left her a present in her home, which you would be proud of."

"That's great," I say and he smiles, even though his eyes are solely on his sketch pad. "Is it foolish to hope that this peace is real?"

He sighs. "No, but it is foolish to convince yourself that it'll last."

"You know me," I say with a sigh. "Optimistic as ever."

"Yes you are," he says, chuckling and I smile at him before leaning into his side. "Tired?"

"Yeah," I say, feeling my body begin to experience the true exhaustion of having pushed myself too much tonight. "I'm not doing that again for a while."

"Rest," he says. "Tomorrow's another day." I nod into his shoulder before closing my eyes, letting darkness claim my vision.

* * *

**The end of the chapter and of the Ball! I hope you all enjoyed and remember to review, or PM, I like to hear thoughts and opinions about the story and never hesitate to do so.**

**See ya later!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Hello, everyone! Here is yet another chapter and I hope you all enjoy it! Thanks for the Follows and Faves! I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.**

**Like always, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious. Remember to enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

* * *

"Are you going to ask her out?" I ask from where I sit on one end of the couch with my legs propped up on the coffee table in front of me while Klaus sits on the other end of the same couch, sketching away on his pad and ignoring my questioning. I purse my lips in irritation, annoyed at him for ignoring me while he is probably drawing Caroline…_again_. "Are you ignoring me?"

He continues to sketch and I sigh, getting annoyed with him, which is unfair that he seems to not be willing to talk with me about a possible interest. I look at the cushion next to me and I grab it, fluffing it on my lap and smoothing out any wrinkles as an idea brews in my mind, which causes me to grin mischievously. I look at Klaus and notice he still hasn't paid me any attention. I didn't know a smitten Klaus would mean that I would be ignored and have to fight to get his attention since he has never shown to be interested in any previous girl he has had some type of relationship with; if it can any one of them be called like that.

I clench my jaw, holding back any remark from escaping my mouth before standing up, still smoothing out the cushion in my hands. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a tad jealous at the lack of attention from Klaus. I look at Klaus and he still hasn't looked at me. Irritated, I huff and hit him square in the face with the cushion, causing his body to jerk in surprise while dropping his pen. He stares at me in surprise with confusion on his face before he gives me a bewildered look while I glare at him.

"Right in the face," I hear behind me and turn to see Kol smirking at us.

I couldn't help but gulp when I notice how fine he looks with modern clothes, apart from yesterday when he was wearing his tuxedo. I notice he wears clothes similar to Klaus' but with darker colors and his brown hair is wild but well-kept. He keeps the hair out of his eyes with gel, giving it a more handsome but disheveled look. All in all, he is one handsome vampire for being a thousand years old.

"You have a good arm, my dear Gwen," Kol says as he tilts his head with a smirk.

I smile at him before turning to glaring at Klaus, who is frowning at me. "What was that for?"

"That's for ignoring me, you…" I begin as I look for the perfect word to use as an insult while I continue to glare at him, "you…jerk!"

"What did I do now?" Klaus asks me as he bends down and picks up his discarded pen from the floor while I continue to glare at him.

"I have been asking you about the girl you can't keep yourself from drawing; she also seems to be replacing me and you don't even know her," I say. "You gonna ask her out or something? I want to know."

"You're being ridiculous," Klaus tells me and I roll my eyes at him.

"So you don't have a thing for her?" I ask him as I cross my arms over my chest, staring at him with incredulous eyes since I didn't believe his denial.

"No," says Klaus.

"I disagree," I hear Kol say from behind me and I turn to see him sitting on some steps that lead to the living room, probably for decoration.

"Thank you," I tell Kol and he nods with a smirk before I turn back to Klaus. "You do know that you can tell me if you like her or if you are even remotely interested in her."

"I don't have to tell you anything," he says, acting like a child denying an explanation to his mother, to which I huff in annoyance. "When we became friends, I vowed to confide in you what I wish to confide in you and to trust you; I made no vow to tell you anything I don't want to."

"Fine, but being childish isn't very attractive," I say before I disappear from the room and appear in another with a huff, knowing that I'll have to work hard to have Klaus admit that he genuinely likes Caroline Forbes, but this is proving to be difficult. "Such a baby," I mumble in reference to Klaus' attitude as I take in my surroundings.

I look around and find Elijah standing in front of a table, frowning as he holds something in his hand that has me intrigued. I walk closer to him and look at it, taking notice that is some kind of herb. I notice some other items on the table; items that seem to belong to a witch and that have already been used.

"What is this?" I ask as I continue to look at the strange item in his hand.

"Burned sage," he says and I meet his eyes, waiting for him to further explain. "It is used by witches when they don't want other people with great hearing to hear something the witch doesn't want them to hear."

I nod. "It's for privacy."

"Yes, and it has me worried," he says as he looks closer at it.

"You're worried about what your mother was trying to hide when she spoke to Elena," I say and he nods. "Where is your mother?"

"She left with Finn earlier," he says. "She said they were going to do an errand or something of that ilk."

"Well, who do we look to for information?" I ask.

"Let us ask Rebekah what she thinks," he says and leads us out of the room. "She is well-versed on witchcraft and figuring out mother's intentions, or used to."

"Good riddance, both of you," I hear Rebekah's voice say before hearing a thud.

"Rebekah," Elijah greets as we step into the living room she was in, still wearing her gown from last night with messy bed-hair, which causes me to grin at her since I knew _exactly_ what she did last night.

"Who was the lucky stud?" I ask, to which she glares at me, clearly irritated with whatever teasing she might have already received.

"Why don't you and Kol make a speech about teasing me?" she snaps at me and I hold my hands up in surrender before looking at Elijah. "And I really don't need it from you, Elijah."

"I'm worried about mother," he says lowly, holding up the burned sage in his hand before approaching his sister. "Have you not noticed her strange behavior?"

"She's been dead for a thousand years," Rebekah counters, defending her mother from any possible threat. I understand her since she loves her mother fiercely, but that can blind her to what her mother may be attempting and it can break Rebekah's heart. "What's strange for her? Weny should know about being dead, ask her."

"Hey!" I say indignantly, disliking having to be referred to give advice about being dead, which is not a joking thing or a pleasant thing to talk about.

Elijah holds the burned sage towards Rebekah. "Burned sage," he says as Rebekah takes it from his hand to have a better look at it. "She was doing a privacy spell."

"You know she fancies such things," Rebekah says, shrugging off whatever her mother was hiding without a care. "Why don't you ask Finn? He's been doting on her."

"I don't trust Finn," says Elijah. "He hates what we are, he always has."

"That's not true," Rebekah says with a frown, not liking what Elijah is saying or referring to. Her naivety doesn't let her see what might be right under the surface. "And as for mother, she returned for one reason: To make her family whole. She loves us. What trouble are you looking to find?"

Releasing a sigh, Rebekah gives back the burned sage to Elijah. She goes to leave and she gives me a small and tired smile as she passes me and I return it with a grin as she leaves with a tired demeanor about her. I turn back to Elijah and approach him.

"What now?" I ask lowly as he looks up to me from the sage.

"We go to the person that may have all the answers," he says as we lock eyes.

* * *

"I need you to be on your best behavior, Miss Gwen," Elijah tells me as he knocks on the front door of the Gilbert home and I roll my eyes at him.

"When are you going to stop calling me that?" I ask and he chuckles.

"Does it bother you?" he asks and I sigh irritatingly.

"A bit," I say. "I have a first name and we know each other well enough."

"Well, I find that I like referring to you as Miss Gwen," he says and I frown at him.

"Why?" I ask.

"It is either that or Lady Gwen," he says and I grimace.

"Please, don't," I say and he chuckles softly. "You have a weird sense of humor, 'Lijah."

"Yes, I have been told before," he says as I feel a presence and hear shuffling on the other side of the door. "Be on your best behavior."

"I will be, stop worrying," I assure him. I am being honest since I honestly don't care about Elena anymore nor am I mad at her. I don't even remember why I was mad at her in the first place. It's not in me to hold a grudge for so long and let it consume me. "I no longer have any ill-will against her as long as she doesn't hurt you or your family, but I don't care if she drops dead either."

"I'll take what I can," he says with a grin as the door is opened by a wide-eyed Elena, making me believe we were the last persons she was expecting to be knocking on her door. "Elena," Elijah greets her.

"Hello," I greet her with a smile.

"Elijah, Gwen," she says as she smiles at us, reining back her surprise at seeing us here.

"We don't mean to intrude," says Elijah. "I was hoping you might accompany us. We want to show you something." He makes it sound like it is something of vital importance.

"It is very important that you see it," I add to Elijah's words and she nods.

She grabs a coat from beside her door, putting it on and grabbing her phone and keys before stepping outside. She locks the door behind her and turns to us, nodding and letting us know she's ready. Elijah and I turn, walking over to his car that was parked next to the sidewalk in front of Elena's house.

I had taken the passenger seat while Elijah took the driver's seat and Elena sat in the back. The whole ride was silent. Elijah and Elena making small talk while I just sat there, anxious to get to our destination. My prayers were answered when we arrive to some part of the forest and Elijah parks the car. While I go through the door, Elijah and Elena open their doors before stepping out of the car.

"I forgot how much I missed this land," Elijah says as he looks around. His eyes told of the many memories from his human days in his home, which is where we stood.

"It must've been another world a thousand years ago," I say.

"I can't even imagine what it must have been like," Elena says. Elijah walks between me and Elena as we begin to walk deeper into the woods.

"You know your school was built over an Indian village?" Elijah asks Elena rhetorically. "It's where I saw my first werewolf. The town square was where the natives would gather to worship." I smile at Elijah's musing, seeing that the memories from his time as a human make him smile. "Matter of fact, near that there was a field where wild horses used to graze."

"That's incredible," Elena whispers.

"It must've been beautiful, 'Lijah," I say and he hums as we stop and he places a hand on the bark of a tree, taking in the memories of his past.

"Indeed it was, Miss Gwen," Elijah says, giving me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Come." He leads us to some rock formations.

"Do you know this place too?" Elena asks, stopping in her tracks while Elijah approaches the rock formation and I stand between the two.

"I do," he says, touching the surface of the rock with his hand, seeming to be remembering this place as well while I look around, noticing we're quite far from where Elijah parked the car. "Below us is a cavern I used to play in as a boy, connects a system of tunnels that stretch across the entire area." He crouches and picks up a bit of dead grass, staring out in the distance as he becomes lost in his memories. "Perhaps it's nature's way of providing us with shelter against the savagery of the full moon. My mother said there must be a balance."

"I should probably go home," Elena announces and I turn to her with knowing eyes while Elijah sighs.

"I admire you, Elena," Elijah says as he stands up and straightens himself on his two feet while dropping the dead grass from his hands. "You remind me of qualities I valued long before my mother turned us. It's not in your nature to be deceitful and yet…" he begins as he points at her accusingly with a finger before dropping it to his side, "when I asked you about your meeting with my mother the other night, you…lied to my face."

I raise my eyebrows and turn to Elena with an accusatory gaze. "You really shouldn't lie to a vampire, darling."

Elena glances from me to Elijah, her nervous face giving her away as Elijah and I turn to her with knowing looks, not even glaring at her. We are honestly not even surprised that she even helped Esther in some way last night. We actually expected that she'd offer Esther any help when it came to killing Klaus, but I knew that there is more.

"It's not true," she says, defending that whatever she said to Elijah was the truth. "I told you that all your mother wanted was a new start."

"I can hear your heartbeat," Elijah says, stopping her from further explaining and burying herself deeper into her own lie. "It jumps when you're being dishonest." He approaches her with a hard look, causing me to be surprised at how angry he seems since he's normally cool and collected. Unlike Klaus, Elijah's anger is displayed in his hard and collected face. "You lied to me at the ball; you are lying to me now."

"Tell the truth, Elena," I tell her as I stand next to Elijah, giving her a blank look since I didn't feel that surprised at her trying to go against those whom I care about. "Be honest."

"I never wanted this happen," she says lowly, her face filled with regret.

"What, Elena?" Elijah asks her in a sharp tone.

She gulps as her eyes meet Elijah's. "We were told that whatever was gonna be in that coffin was gonna kill Klaus. When we found out that it was your mother, we didn't know what to think."

"She said she wanted to make her family whole again, right?" I ask Elijah, to which he nods at me.

"When she asked to see me, I thought that maybe she could help," she says and now I know I'm glaring at her. "That she would find a way to kill Klaus."

"You got your wish, didn't you?" I ask her through clenched teeth, keeping myself calm from the anger that is beginning to grow within me.

"But it's not just Klaus she wants to kill," she says as she gives me an apologetic look.

"She wants to kill us all, doesn't she?" Elijah asks rhetorically as he looks around with a hard look that is filled with anger, but I could hear the sadness that is hidden in his voice; saddened that his mother was trying to kill him and his siblings.

"She also wants to kill you, Gwen," Elena says and I frown at her, not knowing why Esther would be targeting me, but not surprised that she wants to since every witch despises me, with the exception of one.

"Why? She didn't turn me into what I am," I say, surprised by this revelation.

"She said that you should be dead; that you should have passed over," Elena explains and I realize she is right, remembering that I am an abomination in the eyes of almost every witch and Esther is no exception. "She said that your time here ended the night you died and that your blood is the cause of it. She said that you aren't meant to be."

I huff and I turn around to pace in frustration. I can't help but feel uneasy. I already died and it was full of unbearable pain when I woke up. I don't want to go through that again; never again. I remember the feeling of being devoid of feeling anything around me. I also fear what would happen to me. With how the witched treat me, I can only assume that I will end up alone and in darkness, maybe even worse than that.

Also, after so long of being dead, I actually fear dying since Esther might know how to kill me. I do not even know if Esther does know how to kill me. The only ones that do know are Klaus, Rebekah and Gloria; Gloria's probably dead and neither Klaus nor Rebekah would tell Esther. I am _freaking_ out. Not even my thoughts are straight at the moment. This fear bubbles up inside me and I run a hand through my hair, pushing it back in my frustration. I feel vulnerable as if I was alive. With this fear, I no longer feel like nothing could touch me and its' unnerving since it's been like this for six years. I have never worried about dying for six years.

"She wants to undo the evil she created," Elijah says and it seems to be more to himself.

"I'm so sorry," Elena says and I turn to her and Elijah, noticing his calculating eyes. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

"You know…one thing I've learned in my time on this earth…" he says as he looks away from Elena before finally looking at her, "be careful what you wish for."

Elena and I frown at Elijah before he suddenly raises his foot and slams it on the ground, causing the ground to cave in and reveal a hole on the ground. He grabs Elena around her waist and jumps in with her at supernatural speed, causing her to gasp in surprise. Not a second later, Elijah returns to the surface, dusting off his coat before approaching me.

"What now?" I ask as I glance at the hole in the ground.

"Have Rebekah watch over Elena and tell her to wait for my call that will allow her to kill Elena," he says as he also glances at the hole. "I'm sure she wouldn't turn down the opportunity to torment Elena Gilbert. After that, meet me at the Salvatores'. This scheming that everyone has against my siblings has run its course."

I nod at him before he turns to leave, walking over to his car while I disappear from sight with the mansion as my destination, knowing that I have to decide my words carefully for when I explain to Rebekah what is happening.

* * *

"I can't find her anywhere," Stefan says as he enters his home, closing the front door behind him. By the looks of things, they've been looking for Elena and they weren't going to find her anytime soon.

After convincing Rebekah to watch over Elena—it didn't require much effort from my part—I told her where she could find her. I also told her Elijah's message and explained that we were all in danger, that this might be our last night alive and that Elijah was going to deal with it. Rebekah had given me a nod to confirm that she will do as Elijah asked of her and blurred away to do as her older brother requested of her before I met up with him and Damon here in the Salvatore home.

"Hello, Stefan," Elijah greets from where he sits on a cushioned chair while I lean on the side of it.

"They have Elena," Damon informs his brother.

"No, she's with Rebekah," I say and their eyes widen, knowing that Rebekah would love nothing more than to kill her and they are in the right about that.

"As you can imagine, my sister is just dying to tear her throat out," says Elijah. "So if you want to save Elena's life, I need you to help me stop my mother."

"Well, I'm a little embarrassed to admit, but when it comes to killing thousand-year-old resurrected witches," Damon says as he squints mockingly, "I'm a little rusty."

"Yes, unfortunately, even when killed, my mother doesn't seem to want to stay dead," says Elijah. "Not with the spirits of nature at her side."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Stefan asks as he takes a few steps towards us.

"The witches that released my mother," says Elijah. "She's drawing her power from their bloodline."

"So the line needs to be broken," I tell them their task.

"Immediately," adds Elijah.

"Broken?" Stefan asks with furrowed brows as Damon stands next to him.

"Yeah, they mean," Damon says and runs an index finger across his throat, Stefan realizing what needs to be done to break the line.

"You want us to kill them," Stefan says in realization.

"You know I'd do it myself, but I have absolutely no idea where they are," Elijah says honestly. "Besides, seeing me, they'd immediately know my intent. They won't expect to be harmed by the likes of you." He stands from the chair and collects his coat. "In any case, you have six minutes after nine to find them."

"Oh, how super-specific of you," Damon mocks and I roll my eyes at him.

"By nine o' seven the moon will be full and my mother will have the power she needs to kill me and my family. If you do not stop her before then," Elijah says as he approaches them, "Rebekah will kill Elena. So we all have our timeline." He glances at both Salvatores. "I suggest you get started."

Elijah pushes past them, knocking into their shoulders and I follow him. As we exit the Salvatores' house, Elijah puts on his coat over his suit before turning to me while adjusting the collar of his coat.

"Miss Gwen," he says and I turn to him fully, giving him a smile.

"When are you going to stop calling me that 'Lijah?" I ask him with a soft smile that he returns.

"You're implying that I refer to you as such out of politeness," he says with a small grin on his lip, to which I narrow my eyes at him.

"Have you been teasing me this whole time, 'Lijah?" I ask him and he grin was my answer. "What do you need of me?"

"Find my brothers," he says and I nod. "I heard them say they were going to get drinks and I presume they still are."

"I can't even imagine how hard it must be to have your own mother doing this to you and your siblings," I say and Elijah smiles bitterly.

"She's also out to get you, Miss Gwen," he says and I nod.

"It's not the same," I say. "She's not my mother. She wants to kill me because I am something that she knows that shouldn't exist. Nature doesn't want me to exist. Maybe I am targeted now because Esther is a strong witch and can seem to be able to kill me while others weren't." He nods and I notice the mask that vampires use to cover their emotions begin to slip on his face. "Be careful, 'Lijah," I say and he nods at me before blurring away.

I stand alone in front of the Salvatores' home for a while, contemplating the many outcomes of this night. I feel dread wash over my body as I think of the bad outcome, not having been prepared for this. I would either stay awake through the night like always or die before it's even midnight. If Esther isn't stopped or if she is stopped, I could only think that whatever happens is for some reason because I refuse to believe that people live or die because they are just beings without a purpose; that goes for supernatural beings as well.

If I died, I'd be reunited with my family, my warm family; the family that I have missed throughout all of these years, never forgetting them, their faces or everything about them. But I would be leaving the one that I have gained here behind, not knowing if I'd see Klaus, Rebekah, Kol or Elijah or anyone for that matter. Either way, I'll fight for the one that I have gained. Esther's right; I did die with my family six years ago and I believe I was given a second chance with a new one to protect and care for.

I sigh before closing my eyes and think of the only place I know that Klaus and Kol could have gone to get a drink, which is not too difficult since there is only one place in Mystic Falls that provides the drinks that Klaus and Kol might have been seeking.

* * *

**That is the end of this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. Remember to review, I'd like to hear your opinions, comments or anything of the like. Never fear to PM if you want. Ask or say anything you want. Well, I hope you continue to enjoy.**

**See ya later!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hello, here is another chapter! I hope you all enjoy this chapter like the rest. I thank you all reviewers for sharing your opinions and just enjoying my story. I hope I continue to satisfy you all and continue on reading.**

**Remember, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious things. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

* * *

I exhale before opening my eyes and I find myself in front of the entrance to the Mystic Grill with people walking around the place, which seems to be like this any other night in Mystic Falls. I look around, making sure no one that is human is actually seeing me and I concentrate on being visible, feeling the tingling feeling that always comes when I make myself visible before entering the establishment.

The moment I push open the doors, the first thing I take notice of is the music playing through speakers, loud and indistinctive with the voices of many people having multiple conversations at the same time, which kind of muffles the music since it isn't so loud that people have to scream to hear each other.

I look around and find that the place is packed, taking notice of the feeling of eyes on me as I step further in but I shrug it off. I look towards the bar and sigh in relief when I find Klaus and Kol leaning back against it as they seem to be conversing with Caroline, to which I frown. I shake my head and decide to be glad that they are fine, but oblivious to what might happen on this night.

I begin to walk over to them as Caroline turns away from them, almost stopping in her tracks as she notices me, but she only holds her head high before passing by me and exiting the building. I frown at the feeling of uncertainty and fear coming from her when she met my eyes, but I shrug it off as I look to Klaus and Kol. I approach them, noticing that Kol is grinning at me, to which I look away nervously. I also notice they're demeanor and goofy looks, which means they're a bit drunk.

"How much did you two drink?" I ask them, to which they only grin at me while taking a sip from their glasses.

"Almost the whole supply of alcohol," Klaus says, a proud smile on his lips, to which I shake my head at him before getting back on track to what I am supposed to do.

"Nik, I need to talk to you," I say as he pushes away from the counter, taking one final sip from his drink before leaving it on the counter.

"Not now, Cat," he says, his eyes on the entrance of the Grill. I follow his gaze and see Caroline exiting the Grill, to which I frown at him since he really seems whipped by this girl. "I have a challenge that I'm determined to overcome and you were right." I raise an eyebrow, confused at what he means. "I do have a thing for Caroline." He walks away and I watch him follow after Caroline while I glare at his retreating back.

"Stupid, whipped Original hybrid," I mumble to myself.

"I'll drink to that," Kol says as he stands next to me, taking a sip from his drink while I cross my arms over my chest. "Care to keep me company, my dear Gwen?"

I turn to him with a raised eyebrow. "You're asking?"

"I'm giving you the benefit of letting me know of your choice," he says with a smirk and I roll my eyes at him. "Either way, it won't make a difference."

"Fine. I don't have anything better to do anyways," I say. "What do you want to do that doesn't require drinking or killing?" I take his drink and put it on the counter of the bar where Klaus discarded his, not wanting to have him more drunk than he already is.

He narrows his eyes at me in annoyance before looking around the establishment and grins before turning back to me. "How about a game of billiards?"

"You're on," I say and he offers me his arm, to which I cock an eyebrow at him. "Are you serious?"

"I am nothing but a gentleman, Miss Pierson," he says, smirking.

I chuckle. "Almost killing me is classified as being a gentleman?"

"I thought we left that behind us," he says and I roll my eyes at him. "Come on, just take a chance." I chuckle at him and grab his offered arm before he leads us to where an empty pool table is waiting for us.

I release his arm and prep the balls on the table while Kol takes off his coat, discarding it on the back of a chair. I could feel his eyes on me while I smile down at how neat the balls look on the table in the shape of a triangle. I feel a bit uneasy at having Kol stare at me so openly, even though I haven't looked up to confirm he is doing this. I release a sigh, calming my nervousness at having an Original vampire ogling me.

"Ladies first," I hear Kol's voice next to my ear, causing me to jump and look up, noticing his close proximity, but I manage to maintain collected before stepping away from being so near to his presence.

"Okay," I say as I go over to grab a cue stick from a rack before turning to his smirking face. "You actually have manners."

"I'm wounded," he says as he puts a hand over where his heart is, faking hurt. "I treat others with nothing but respect…most of the time."

"Of course," I chuckle and I approach the table, beginning our game, failing to score anything when I break the neatly-shaped balls that were in the shape of a triangle.

"I keep wondering about something," he says. "I hope you can enlighten me."

"Okay," I say with a frown, meeting his eyes from across the pool table.

"Why does Nik call you 'Cat'?" Kol asks me after he went his turn, scoring a stripped ball, which are now the ones he has to score into the holes and the solid ones being mine to score.

"He started calling me that after I started calling him 'Mouse'," I say as I watch him fail to score, which means it's my turn.

"Why do you call him that?" he asks with a frown on his face, which makes him look cute.

My eyes widen a bit at my thoughts and shake my head. I give him a wide grin, knowing that this will ruin Klaus when Kol begins to tease him about it, if we make it past tonight, but I decide to do as Elijah said and watch over Kol and Klaus, wherever the latter is but I'm not worried about him since he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

"It rhymes," I say, waiting for him to get it.

I watch the frown on his face turn comical before he laughs, finding myself liking the sound of it. "Klaus, Mouse," he manages to say through his laughter and I chuckle with him. "How on earth are you still alive after that?"

"You seem to keep forgetting that I'm already dead," I say and he nods as his laughter dies down.

"Well, a woman of your caliber ought to choose more suitable company that is better than any company my brother provides," he says from the other side of the table and I roll my eyes at him.

"And I presume that 'suitable company' would be you?" I ask him as I bend over the table, managing to score.

"Aren't you smart?" he says while smirking at me as he comes to stand next to me while placing his cue stick on the pool table and I stand straight; our faces inches away from one another. Our breaths mingle while his nose is close to coming into contact with mine, which would mean that his soft-looking, thin lips would grow closer to mine.

"You're saying I should spend more time with a man that hates the mere thought of the woman I look like?" I ask him and he sighs deeply as I keep my eyes locked with his, not backing down.

One of his hands appears on my hip, bringing me an inch closer to his body and I sigh in relief at the warmth that his body expels. I leave my arms to my side, feeling tingling feelings take hold of my whole body, which causes me to go blank without any idea of what to do at the moment. His whole presence clouds my mind and it's frustrating.

"Like I said, I've had a change of heart," he says with a serious look on his face. "That doesn't just take place every day, dear Gwen."

"So I should count myself lucky?" I ask, matching his unwavering look.

"I do so like pretty little things with sharp tongues," he says as his face begins to lean closer to mine. I frown, nervous at the direction this is going. I take a sharp intake of air before stepping back, leaving the hold that his hand had on my hip.

"I-I'm gonna go get drinks," I announce nervously, stuttering a bit.

"Splendid idea," he says with a wide smirk that I just want to smack from his face since he did that with the intention to have me back down.

"Be right back," I say and place my cue stick on the pool table next to his before walking towards the bar, feeling Kol's eyes following me.

I order two drinks at the bar and wait for the bartender to hand them over to me, noticing that he didn't ask for any I.D. _No wonder there are so many teenagers here,_ I think to myself. _This is practically a gold mine._

Suddenly, I feel a small shot of pain in my chest where my heart is, causing me to pant at the stinging feeling. I turn around, looking for Kol. I panic when I don't find him anywhere near the pool table we were using. I leave the bar and approach the pool table, noticing Kol's coat is still on the back of a chair, which means he should still be here, unless he went to have a 'snack' but I feel that isn't the case.

A feeling of uncertainty goes through me as I think that something might have happened to him. I grab his coat and make my way outside, looking around the area, worried for Kol. I frown as I spot Klaus with Caroline on the other side of the street, standing next to a bench. I watch Klaus grab Caroline by her shoulders and shake her in apparent anger. _Something's wrong,_ I think.

"Nik!" I call and I see him turn to me with concerned eyes. "Kol's gone!" The next second Klaus is in front of me.

"What happened?" he asks me, worry laced with anger in his tone of voice.

"Kol and I were playing pool and I left to get drinks, but he wasn't there when I turned around after I felt like I was stabbed," I say as his eyes begin to calculate what might have happened while my grip tightens on Kol's coat. "I don't know where he is," I say and he raises his hand for me to stay silent, probably because he seems to be listening with his supernatural hearing.

He turns to the side. "The back of the building."

He blurs away and I appear to where he mumbled, which is where Kol might be. I appear in front of a man dragging Kol's body—grayed with protruding veins all over his skin—towards Damon and Stefan from the back door of the building. They notice me with surprised looks and I notice a dagger embedded in Kol's chest, causing me to glare at them.

"Hello, boys," I greet them with a fake smile as they seem to have frozen on the spot at my unexpected arrival. "You really shouldn't have done that."

Klaus appears in front of Alaric, pulling the dagger out of his younger brother before roughly pushing the human man into a wall and away from Kol, eliciting a grunt from the human and I actually hear something crack. Kol's body lies limp on the ground next to me and Klaus, still desiccated. Stefan goes to attack Klaus but I lift my hand and flick it as I use my powers to throw him hard into the stairs behind me.

Stefan and the human man groan in pain as Klaus turns to Damon, glaring at the last man standing and placing himself in front of me and Kol protectively. I go over to Kol and kneel next to his body with his coat still in my hands. I turn his body so that he's resting on his back and lightly stroke his gray cheek as it ever so slowly begins to gain color, the protruded veins disappearing.

"I should have killed you months ago," I hear Klaus say and I look up from Kol to see Klaus glaring heatedly at Damon.

"Do it," Damon huffs. "It's not going to stop Esther from killing you."

"What did you say about my mother?" Klaus asks him, his tone of voice dangerous as he approaches Damon.

"You didn't know I was friends with your mommy?" Damon mocks and I am tempted to throw him around the place. "Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do." My breath catches when I see Klaus lunge at Damon.

"Leave him," I hear Elijah's voice, stopping Klaus mere inches away from ripping Damon apart. Klaus and I turn to look at the top of the stairs where Elijah stood, his gray skin with protruding veins still in the process of leaving his body. "We still need him, Niklaus."

"What did mother do?" Klaus asks Elijah as he stands next to me. "What did she do, Elijah?"

Elijah begins to descend the stairs as he reaches into his pocket with determined eyes locked on Damon, taking out his phone from the pocket in his jacket. I watch him as he walks straight up to Damon with his phone in his hand, his demeanor unwavering, telling us how serious he is.

"You tell me where the witches are or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now," says Elijah, his tone calm but the anger is there.

Damon looks up at the clock tower of the town that is visible from where we are before turning back to Elijah with a frown. "You told me we had until after nine."

"I'm sure Rebekah would be more than happy to start her work early," Elijah says as Damon's resolve seems to be made.

I look back down at Kol as Elijah handles the situation and Klaus listens intently. I assume that it's taking Kol longer to wake up since he is the only who was actually daggered. The spell that Esther casted probably has us all tied to one another, to which I sigh worriedly. I notice Kol's hand twitching as color has completely returned to his skin. His skin no longer has protruding veins while his skin has its color back.

"Kol?" I whisper and his eyes snap open while taking a sharp intake of air before he releases a groan. "Kol." He looks up at me with a frown and I help him sit up.

"What the bloody hell happened?" he asks and I notice Damon, Stefan and the human man are taking their leave. "Just because I was winning doesn't mean you have to dagger me for it."

I huff with a smile. "I wasn't the one who daggered you, you idiot. I would never do that, I'm not Nik."

"I'm right here," I hear Klaus say, knowing that he must be annoyed with my words, but I offer him a small smile to tell him I am slightly joking before turning back to Kol.

Kol turns to me with a smirk and it turns into a hard look as he notices Klaus and Elijah standing behind me. He frowns at the blank looks on their faces before grunting as I help him stand up. I extend him his coat and he takes it while he continues to frown at Klaus and Elijah.

"What's happened now?" Kol asks as he puts on his coat and I sigh, knowing he won't react well to his mother wanting to kill her own children.

* * *

"Are you sure it's this way?" I hear Kol ask for the umpteenth time, causing me to groan in annoyance.

"Yes, I am," I say in annoyance, not wanting to push anyone's buttons since they are already angry enough with Esther's plan to kill us. "I know where the stupid old house is."

"We're on track," Klaus says, supporting me and I sigh in relief as he walks next to me with Kol and Elijah following us.

We come out to the familiar clearing and I frown at the fire in front of the old house where the witches were killed. We approach it with Kol now taking the lead and see Esther with Finn. I see Bonnie and another dark-skinned woman with dark hair next to her retreat back into the old house, probably seeking protection from the spirits of the dead witches in it. Esther and Finn stand facing us in the middle of a circle that was drawn with what is most likely salt, a pentagram also drawn in the circle and six lit torches placed around the circle.

"My sons, Miss Pierson, come forward," Esther says confidently as Finn stands next to her protectively.

"Stay beside me," Finn tells her, keeping to his toes in the presence of his angered siblings.

"It's okay," Esther assures him. "None of them can enter."

Klaus and Elijah stand a few feet away from the circle with me in the middle as Kol tries to approach the circle, only to stop in his tracks when the flames of the torches intensify at his intruding presence getting too close to the circle where Esther and Finn stood.

"Can you not get inside?" Klaus whispers to me and I shake my head at him before motioning to the circle on the ground.

"The circle's made of salt and I cannot go through," I say. "They're safe from me as much as they are safe from you."

"That's lovely," Kol says wryly as he glares at Finn. "We're stuck out here while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn."

"Be quiet, Kol," Esther says as she stares at her youngest son with a steely look. "Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine."

"Whatever you think of us, killing your own children would be an atrocity," Elijah says as Klaus goes to stands next to Kol, leaving me standing behind Kol, but still in view of Esther and Finn.

"My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago," says Esther.

"Enough," says Klaus. "All this talk is boring me. End this now, mother, or I'll send you back to hell."

Esther takes a step forward, keeping her face collected as she confronts her children. "For a thousand years I've been forced to watch you. I felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood." She turns her gaze to Elijah. "Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better." Her gaze shifts onto me. "And you, Gwen Pierson. It may have been your ancestor's blood that gave me life, but you're an abomination on this earth like any other of her ancestors. It's even worse the company you keep yourself in. You should have died like every other mortal being. That needs to be remedied." I take a sharp intake of air at her words as her eyes go over us. "All of you, you're a curse on this earth, stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry; you've wasted your time." I could see that in the cruelty that she is about to commit, it hurt her to do this since her eyes were glazed with unshed tears because it is her children she's killing, but it's not justifiable in my eyes.

None of us argue her statement. None of us know how to even reply to what she has said, partly because her words hold some semblance of truth in them, but I disagree with them entirely. I know that I don't need her to tell me I am an abomination. I have heard that word be thrown about whenever I was near a witch that knew what I was. Esther's words stung, but I wasn't going to let them get to me, not now when she is about to kill us.

Esther closes her eyes, probably about to continue on with her spell and my eyes find Klaus', fearing about what is to happen. He gives me a small smile to give me some form of comfort and I give him a smile of my own. We exchange the happy times we've had in only this look, neither of us regretting them. I could feel my eyes water a bit at the thought of dying as I keep my eyes locked with Klaus'.

"No," Esther says with her eyes closed and her arms were raised to her sides, causing us to look at her with frowns. "Sisters, do not abandon me." Suddenly, I hear loud indistinct whispering as the fire of the torches burn brighter than before.

"Mother!" Finn calls before pulling his mother back as the intense flames causes all to squint while the whispering intensifies in anger.

I see Elijah and Klaus turn away from the fire and I feel myself being pulled, seeing Kol pulling me to his front, away from the fire and shielding me with his body. I hide my face into his chest while gripping his shirt with my fists as he has a hand on the back of my head and the other around my waist, keeping me tight against his chest while I keep my eyes closed.

Suddenly, the whispering stops and the light of the fire go out as I slowly pull away from Kol's chest. I meet Kol's eyes, frowning at his action to shield me, not knowing why he would do such a thing. He breaks away from my eyes and looks me over, probably making sure I am all right. I feel a lump in my throat at the warmth I am feeling, which is impossible since I can't feel anything. I can only tell that it's coming from Kol. I shake my head and nod at him, telling him that I am fine, to which he nods in return. We all look at the empty space where Esther and Finn were with frowns. Kol releases me from his hold and walks over to stand on the pentagram while Klaus approaches me with a concerned look. I smile at him reassuringly before we turn to look around the area. Damon and Stefan must have broken the line and Esther lost her power, but now we have no idea where she could've gone, still intent on killing us.

* * *

Not a word had been uttered on our way back to the mansion, not even Kol made a sly comment. Once we arrived at the mansion, everyone scattered, walking into separate directions. This night weighs on my unlike any other after the events that took place. At Esther's words, Elijah had guilt swimming around his face, believing that what she said was true, even though it her words were uncalled for and untrue. I tried coaxing Klaus into talking, but he kept his face free of any emotion and I hated it when he did that. I don't even want to know how Rebekah is when she comes back. And Kol…well, like Klaus, he kept his face blank, not giving anything away.

I sigh from where I sit on the bottom step of the staircase of the mansion, leaning my head on the railing in utter defeat, for I find myself retreating back to feelings I thought I had overcome. Like Esther said, I am an abomination. I shouldn't even exist and I haven't found the reason why I am still here after so many years. I found a reason to be here and not succumb to my dark emotions by staying with Klaus, bringing out his humanity while he took care of me, ridding me of the dark emotions that plagued me in my first year as a ghost. He kept them from consuming me, telling me I have a reason for being here, but I don't know what that reason is.

Now…I don't even know what to think. I feel like I have no purpose and that is enough to cause my abilities to go haywire, but they haven't and I am relieved. Klaus has his siblings by his side and needs to sort out his problem with Esther that has us linked together as one. He must also feel betrayed by his own brother, like the rest. Elijah will probably seclude himself in his guilt and Rebekah…well, I don't want to even imagine.

I sigh, wanting to just get away from this all. I don't regret being with Klaus and the siblings that I have come to like so much; enough to consider them as family. I want to help them and stay with them, but I need some sort of break to get this suffocating feeling off of me. I came close to death in this town and I want to get away from it. I don't want to experience death a second time. Who knows what may happen to me a second time. I could feel the slight tingle in my fingertips, telling me the excess of power that wants to release from the amount of emotions that are going through me at the moment. I take a deep breath and calm down, knowing that I have to calm my thoughts and emotions before I single-handedly take this house down.

I don't turn around when I hear footsteps approach, for I am too consumed by my thoughts to turn my head and find out who it is. _If the person wants to approach me, then he will,_ I think to myself as I play with the hem of my cream cardigan, not knowing what to do or how to even begin to help Klaus or do _anything _at all.

"What's eating you up?" I frown and look up at Kol, who is standing two steps away from me as he stares down at me with his hands in the pockets of his jeans and a duffle bag hanging by his shoulder.

I sigh. "Many things that ranges from important to nothing important." He nods at me and I frown at the duffle bag on his shoulder. "You're leaving?"

"I have no reason to stay and it is not safe for all of us to be together since we're apparently linked by Esther," he says as he looks away from me. "I foolishly believed that my family could sort itself out and I thought my mother's intentions were true. I was foolish to believe that. Besides, this town has grown boring and I have been in a coffin for too long to not explore this world."

"What about the link that binds us together?" I ask and his eyes meet mine. They harbor an uncountable number of feelings within them that cause me to keep my eyes locked with his.

"I told Nik I'd keep in touch and he said he'd deal with it," he says. "He'll call me if he needs anything, but I really don't want to stay in this bloody town." He sighs and frowns at me. "What about you?"

I frown back at him. "What about me?"

"What will you do?" he asks. "Elijah's leaving, Rebekah will most likely throw a fit, but she'll stay. And Nik has pulled back into his shell. Where does that leave you?"

"I have no idea," I say with pursed lips.

"Come with me," he says and I blink at him, having to really want to make sure he actually said those words.

"What?"

"Come with me," he repeats with a smirk. "I'll need the entertainment, which you can provide. I also need a guide." I roll my eyes at him. "And you have no reason not to come." I stare up at him, not knowing what to think of his proposal as he offers me his hand while grinning down at me.

I look at his hand and contemplate this, for it is not an easy decision and it makes me wonder why Kol would want me to go with him. I bear the face of the woman he hates, the woman who tricked his heart and broke him, or so Klaus said. This is the escape I wanted and I see no reason not to take it. There is also the fact that I can't find myself wanting to part with him just yet and I don't know why. Like his decision to ask me to join him, I should take a leap of faith and do something I feel I want to do.

I grab his hand and he pulls me up to my feet while grinning as I offer him a small smile. I frown and glance back, worried about how Klaus might react to this, but he has enough problems as it is and it's not as if I'll be leaving him forever.

"Time to go, my dear Gwen," Kol says and I turn back to him, his hand still gripping mine.

"What if I had refused?" I ask him with a small grin as he smirks at me.

"I'm giving you the benefit of letting me know of your choice," he says. "I just wouldn't have cared if you refused. I still would have taken you with me."

"Fine," I say as I meet his dark eyes. "Lead the way, Mr. Mikaelson."

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next it's going to be more Gwen/Kol interaction. I want to thank XxMikaelsonForeverxX for never failing to review and look forward to the next chapter. I also thank the rest who have reviewed which I extend my thanks with imagined sundaes or any type of favorite dessert.**

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**Well, see ya later!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hello, everyone! Here's another chapter. I thank you my Followers, Favoriters (something like that) and Reviewers for your support as always and keep on doing your thing!**

**Like always, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 17**

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Never in my life would I imagine that I would be in this kind of situation, traveling to who knows where with an Original vampire, who is a thousand years old and has only recently been un-daggered after a century. Thinking back, I never even dreamed of a fantasy about the supernatural or any of the sorts, not even when I saw 'Twilight', which totally deflated any want to meet vampires if they were going to sparkle; it was too off for me, but I did enjoy the books more than I enjoyed the film. Not even then did I fantasize about the possibility of it all being real.

Before I died, books and movies were the most I got from things supernatural; nothing more, nothing less. I was a normal human girl. Well, correction, I was a semi-normal girl with nothing special about me at the time and I had a small family; a mother, a father and a little sister. That was the only family I had and we lived in a cozy home with a white picket fence. We had no trouble, we smiled, we laughed and we _lived_; nothing more, nothing less.

I remember my funeral; Klaus had gone with me. He also provided a body in the place of mine and compelled some people along the way. I remember people at my funeral; some said that I died at a very young age like when some say it full of pity, but I disagree. I died at the wrong time of my life, not at the beginning of it, at the part where everything was already settled and we couldn't be any happier. I miss those times more than anything, but my logic told me it was time to move on and that I must have some unearthly reason for not staying dead; I fiercely believe in that or I would've been an emotional wreck.

For the first two years after my death I was invisible to everyone that was not supernatural. I would cry and scream and tear my hair out in desperation to have some type of contact that wasn't a supernatural being. I could barely touch things and I teleported when my emotions got the best of me. And through all that, Klaus stood by my side. Granted, at first he was intense and violent, but he changed with me. He opened up to me because he found a kindred soul in me. He never pitied me and he never underestimated me. He gave me strength and helped me get by. After I died, I laughed an honest laugh three years after I died for the first time and it was thanks to Klaus. He found a way to get under my skin and brighten up the life that I was given.

Recently, I have no goal to accomplish, for I stood by Klaus through thick and thin. His siblings are un-daggered, freed from their pain-induced sleep. Now, I left Klaus and I know he will be very angry, especially since I left voluntarily and I left with his younger brother, Kol. And this was out of an impulse that I have not yet figured out and Kol seems to be having similar thoughts, for his face was uncertain when he asked me to join him. For now, I will see where the road might lead me and try to find some purpose on this earth that I am supposed to not exist in.

"Have you ever driven before?" I ask Kol from where I sit on the passenger seat while he drives, which worried me since he was daggered for over a century. I was sure we were a fair distance away from Mystic Falls, which is comforting.

"Don't worry, dear Gwen," Kol says with a smirk as he drives one of Klaus' cars—a convertible, might I add—into the night while I remain wondering about our destination. I did tell him where everything was, but I am still edgy. "I have speedy reflexes, so there's no need to worry."

"Whatever you say," I say as I stare out the window, not wanting to look to the front of the car and wondering when Klaus is going to notice that I'm gone. "Nik's going to be upset."

"I know," Kol says and I frown when I turn to see his smirking face that is concentrated on the road. "He hates it when I take his things."

"I'm not an object, Kol," I tell him with a sharp look and he shrugs. "Anyway, where are we going?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," he says and I frown at him.

"What?"

"Live in the moment, dear Gwen. Neither of us is going anywhere anytime soon."

"Where are we going to stay? I doubt you'll be driving for the rest of the night."

"You sound like Nik; worrying about future things that can be solved when the moment comes. I just want to put a fair distance between us and Nik before he notices you're gone and finds out you're with me." Suddenly, I hear a ringing and Kol reaches into his jacket pocket, taking out his phone, to which he smirks at the screen. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

"You shouldn't drive and handle the phone," I say and he rolls his eyes at me, making me nervous that he's driving and handling his phone at the same time.

"We're already dead, dear Gwen," he says before answering the phone. "Having a good night, brother?" he asks, smirking as he talks with Klaus while keeping a hand on the steering wheel. "If I know where Gwen is?" he says as he glances at me with a smirk before turning back to the road. "Well, she's in the company of the most dashing Mikaelson." I watch him as he looks like he's hearing one of Klaus' temper tantrums before passing the phone over to me wordlessly.

I take the phone and put it to my ear nervously. "Nik?"

"_Where in the bloody hell are you?_" he asks loudly and I cringe at the harsh tone of his voice.

"I don't know," I answer truthfully. "Kol hasn't decided on a destination."

"And you won't know when we get there, dear brother," Kol says, knowing that Klaus can listen to him. "I've had enough of your presence to last me a century, Nik."

"_You better return her to me or you will find yourself buried fifty feet underground with a dagger in your chest,_" he growls for Kol to hear, who doesn't seem to be phased by the threat.

"Nik!" I scold him. "I thought we were done with the whole daggering business."

"_He kidnapped you!_" he growls and I close my eyes, knowing that I have to tell him.

"Not exactly," I say.

"_What?_" Klaus asks lowly, probably surprised at this.

"He didn't kidnap me, Nik. I went with him voluntarily."

"_Why on earth would you do that?_" he asks and I sigh at the hurt I could hear in his voice.

"I'm insulted, Nik," says Kol. "I am excellent company to have."

"I wish I had the answer, but I'm fine, Nik," I assure him, ignoring Kol's comment and knowing that Klaus must've dug a hole in his house from all the pacing. "I know you're just a call away."

"_When will you be back?_" Klaus asks and I sigh, knowing that he will not like my answer.

"I don't know," I whisper, hearing him sigh on the other end of the line. "I'll keep in touch, Nik, I pro-"

Kol snatches the phone from my hand and puts it to his hear. "No immediate harm will come to her, Nik. Besides, she's already dead." He hangs up the phone before putting it back in his pocket.

"That could have been handled better," I say and he shrugs nonchalantly.

"I could care less," he says and his phone rings again. He sighs in frustration before taking it out of his jacket pocket and checks the screen, rolling his eyes as he answers. "Sister."

"It's Bekah?" I ask but he ignores me.

"I did not kidnap her, I'm not an animal," Kol says, scowling at the road ahead as if Rebekah was there insulting him. "I won't harm her…unless I'm provoked." He glances at me with a grin and I give him an unimpressed look. "You want to talk to her?"

It's my turn to snatch the phone from his hand. "Bex?"

"_Weny?_" she asks from the other line. "_Where are you? Are you all right?_"

"I'm fine," I assure her with a smile on my lips. "I'm just going to take a breather. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye, but you wouldn't have let me leave if I did."

"_When are you coming back?_" she asks.

I open my mouth to answer but Kol snatches the phone from my hand before putting it to his ear. "She's on indefinite leave, so don't bother asking again." He goes to hang up but stops when Rebekah seems to have said something and the next moment the car jerks into a halt, causing me to squeak in surprise, my heart beating hard against my ribcage while I close my eyes to calm down, willing back memories that I do not wish to go through at the moment. "What did you say?" he asks as I turn to him and see him with a deep frown on his face, anger evident as well. "That tree was burned to the ground."

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Well, tell Nik to call if he needs anything," he says. "Anything at all, Bekah. One of us dies, so do the rest, keep that in mind," he says before hanging up, his face wearing a glare before continuing on and I'm glad the road was empty when he came to a sudden stop and that no one was behind us to bump into us.

"What's going on?" I ask and he sighs.

"Nik and Bekah have their hands full with the task of destroying that which gave us our immortality," he says and I frown.

"White oak?" I ask and he nods. "Didn't you destroy it a thousand years ago?"

"Apparently we forgot something," he says and I nod.

"Well, let's hope they can handle it."

"You don't need to eat, do you?" he asks, changing the subject.

"Nope."

"You don't need to sleep?"

"Not always."

"So you have no human needs," he states and I nod at him.

"None," I say. "I can still do all of those things. I can eat, but I won't taste it and it doesn't fill me or anything. I can sleep, but only when I've exhausted myself by pushing my abilities, like at the ball when I had to concentrate on being visible and force my clothes to alter into the dress."

"Which was beautiful, might I add," he says with a cheeky smile, to which I roll my eyes at him. "You can never change out of those clothes?"

"Is there something wrong with my clothes?" I ask him, teasing him by looking insulted.

"No, it's just odd that you never change out of them," he says and I sigh.

"They're the clothes I died in and I found out I can't change out of them," I say and he glances at me with a frown. "They change on their own, depending on my mood or something. I have no complete control over it."

"How did you die?" he asks and I freeze at his question, feeling a lump grow in my throat but I push it back. "Nik told me about your ghostly abilities and who you are or were, but no details and nothing else."

I sigh as I glance out of the window, noticing a motel. "We can stay there." I point to the motel up ahead and I know that he knows I'm changing the topic, but he doesn't seem to want to push the topic of my death.

"Yeah, we're far enough," he says as he turns to the parking lot of the motel.

He parks the car and we both get out of the car. Kol takes his bag from the trunk and we begin to approach the front desk. I notice the motel has two floors with a sign near the road so that drivers know that the motel is here. An elderly man with gray hair and glasses smiles at Kol politely in greeting from behind the protective glass.

"I would like a room for the night for two," Kol says and I kick his foot, causing him to grunt before turning to me with a frown.

"He can't see me, I'm not visible. Don't look at me or he'll think you're crazy," I say and Kol nods before turning to the frowning elder, who looks at Kol with wariness and concern. "Order a room with one bed; I'll sit on a chair."

"All night?" Kol asks me with a frown and I roll my eyes at him.

"Are you all right, son?" the elderly man asks Kol, who turns back to him with a grin.

"Yeah, weak ankles," Kol says and I snort at his excuse, earning a glare from him and I motion him to not look at me. "I'll take a room with one bed."

"Good," says the elderly man as he turns to some keys that are hanging on the wall behind him. "We only have that last one with one bed." The elderly man turns back to Kol. "Cash or credit?"

Kol smirks and stares at the elderly man in the eye. "**You'll be such a good chap that you're gonna give it to me without charge.**"

"The room is on the first floor," says the elderly man.

"Really?" I ask him as the elderly man hands the key over to Kol through the small hole at the bottom of the protective window.

"I don't have money on me," he says and I roll my eyes at him.

"You take one of Nik's cars, but you don't take money?" I ask as he makes his way to the room he was given.

"My only thought was about getting out of that town," he says as he stands in front of a door in the first floor. "I didn't exactly work out the details." He opens the door and motions me to enter first before following behind me.

I look around and find a single bed with nightstands on either side of it. There's a TV on the opposite side of the bad with drawers under it. Next to the bed is a door that is most likely the bathroom and on the other side is a window with a view of the parking lot and drapes closed. Next to the window is a round table with two cushioned seats. Next to the TV is a doorway that leads to a small kitchen.

"This'll do?" Kol asks me as he drops his bag on the bed.

"You're the one who's going to sleep here," I say as I take a seat on one of the cushioned seats. "I'm not sleeping tonight."

"You're going to gaze at me all night?" he asks me with a smirk and I roll my eyes at him. "Well, I'll be back," he says and I frown as I watch him go to the front door.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"Unlike you, I need to feed," he says with a smirk, showing his elongated fangs before leaving and closing the door behind him; going out to hunt a poor victim. I stand up and walk over to the TV noticing some brochures on it. I frown as I read where we are, which is in Kentucky and I am surprised to know how far we got from Mystic Falls in one night. Kol drove a state away from Klaus and I presume we'll continue on tomorrow since Kol is determined to get away from Mystic Falls, like me.

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I stare out the window and watch as the sun begins to rise from where I sit on the cushioned seat, not wanting to stare at Kol the whole night and have him call me a pervert or something along the lines like he insinuated I was gonna do; being teased for staring at him is the last thing I need at the moment since he seems to relish in it.

I had kept out of his way when he came in through the door, hours after he had left to hunt. He had stains of blood on his shirt and a small trickle of blood on his chin that he had wiped off when I told him about it. He also looked like he had been drinking but I didn't say anything as he had discarded his jacket and gone straight to the bed to sleep for the rest of the night.

I also know that Klaus will try to get much more physical contact than just a phone call since he hates to not be well-informed when he's asking about something, which wouldn't surprise me since he's a very dominant person and has me worried. It doesn't matter that Kol puts distance between us and Klaus, the latter will make contact and I'll have to face him, which means that I have to tell him that I do not want to return with him, not yet anyway.

"Why the bloody hell do you have that pathetic look on your face?" I frown and turn to see Kol leaning against the headboard of the bed while frowning at me, the sheet of the bed pooling around his waist.

"I'm just thinking," I say as I remember something. "And you accused me I would stare at you all night and I didn't do it, but you're contradicting your own words since _you_ are staring at me."

"You are interesting to look at and you look remarkable for someone who's dead," he says with a seductive smirk.

"Coming from a thousand year old vampire," I remark and he chuckles before he stands up from the bed, stretching his joints and I notice the blood stains on his shirt. "Who did you kill?"

He turns to me and grins. "A couple of sodding humans that had too much to drink."

"Did you need to kill them?" I ask and he narrows his eyes at me.

"Look, _dear_ Gwen," he says as he approaches me. "I'm not Nik. I won't repress who I truly am and, if you're going to get snarky with me about it," he says as he places his hands on the armrest of my chair, leaning close to my face, "we'll have problems and I rather not."

I don't move my eyes from his, not going to show him that I fear him, which I don't; I just know that he's an Original that can really harm me and no one in their right minds would push his buttons, especially me. Besides, he can hurt me but I'm already dead; there's nothing worse than that.

"Why did you ask me to come with you?" I ask and he grins before pulling away from me and going to his bag at the foot of the bed. "I am the embodiment of trouble."

"Why did you agree to come with me?" he counters and I roll my eyes at him.

"Touché," I say and he raises an eyebrow at me with a grin. "Where are we going?"

"I have no idea," he says and I frown. "My first thought was leaving Mystic Falls. So I'm going to rely on your knowledge of the best place to be at this time of year in any place in the world and then I'll take over from there."

I frown at him. "You're asking me?" He turns to me and nods at me as if I asked something stupid. "I don't know where we could go."

"You must've gone places, knowing how Nik likes to travel," he says as he takes out a shirt from his bag and some underwear, to which I look away, giving unasked privacy.

"I haven't gone anywhere out of the country," I say and he frowns at me. "Klaus was busy with finding the Petrova girl to break his curse, which means that we couldn't leave America since she was said to be here. We did travel around, but we never stayed anywhere for too long, except for Chicago."

"You haven't been anywhere at all?" Kol asks me as if it was impossible for me to not have been anywhere at all and I shake my head.

"Nope."

He nods at me, contemplating something before walking over to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I sigh as I hear the shower turn on and I wait for him to finish washing up, knowing that we'll be back on the road after he's done. He's probably anxious to get to know how much the world has changed and go to places he liked after a century and see how much they've changed. I sigh, wondering where this little adventure with Kol might lead to.

"So let me get this straight," Kol says as he comes out of the bathroom and I look up to see him wearing only his jeans with a towel around his shoulders, his hair wet from the shower. I couldn't help but stare at his build, which is well-toned and athletic, begging me to run my hands all over it. I shake my head with a clearing of my throat, frowning at my own thoughts. "You have been with Nik for six years, helping him break his curse and you haven't enjoyed yourself along the way?"

When he says it like that, it sounds like I am some toy that Klaus really liked and used whenever he wanted, like I got nothing out of it, which is not true, which upsets me but I decide to not argue with him this early in the journey with him. Those years are between me and Klaus, no one else has to know what we shared through those years, for it is personal.

"No," I answer while he uses his towel to dry his hair, leaving it wild but it looks good on him.

"Why?" he asks as he puts on a long-sleeved shirt.

"Well, I was busy getting control over my emotions, which affected my powers and everything around me and Nik helped me while looking for the Petrova girl," I say. "I know it seems ridiculous—the amount of time that it took me to master my abilities—but it got the job done."

"How on earth did Nik decide to tag you along? No offense," he says and I chuckle lowly.

"He tried to kidnap me when I was alive," I say and his eyes widen in surprise. "He was actually angry because he was confusing me with Jen and I screamed at the top of my lungs." I chuckle at the memory of the look on Klaus' face when I screamed. "His face was priceless when he literally jumped back in surprise or fear—I'll never know—and then he disappeared."

"I can't believe one of his master plans actually failed," he says with a smirk and I nod with a smile.

"Yeah, it did," I say.

"How did you end up with him?"

I sigh and look down at the ground. "He had eyes on me after he failed to kidnap me. After I died, he was there when I woke up and tagged me along with him."

"I presume he gave you one of his touching speeches," he says and I narrow my eyes at him, getting ready to be defensive.

"He helped me after I practically lost everything," I say and Kol snorts.

"Nik doesn't just do things that don't benefit him in some way," he says and I huff before standing up.

"He gained a friend and an ally," I say, glaring at him. "It's sad to know that you have no experience in it. It doesn't even surprise me."

Suddenly, he pins me against the wall by my neck at supernatural speed, giving me a rather calm look that spoke more of his anger towards my words, but I met his eyes with my own defiance, not wavering under his gaze. His grip around my throat is tight, but I match his look with mine, not caring that he might rip off my head right now.

"I do like them with sharp tongues, but make no mistake, I could do worse than just snap your neck; your appearance doesn't help your case very much," he says and I sigh. "Now, what did I say about getting snarky with me?"

"You'd rather not have problems, which means you'd kill me if I gave any," I say calmly. "I don't think you can do much worse than the state that I'm already in and stop comparing me to _her_."

He narrows his eyes at me before releasing me, walking back to his bag and sitting on the edge of the bed to put on his boots. "I'll stop comparing you to Jen when you prove me wrong; that you're really not like your ancestor." He stands up and puts on his jacket.

"I haven't done anything to you," I say and he glares at me, causing me to notice the hatred he holds for Jen and is reflecting it onto me. "What did _she_ do to you?"

He stands up and walks towards me with an intense look. "I'll tell you what she did, when you tell me how you died." He smirks before grabbing his bag and gathering his things.

"Where are we going now?" I ask through clenched teeth, knowing that he made a hard bargain so I changed the subject.

"I was thinking we could go to New Orleans," he says and I raise my eyebrows in surprise, knowing that New Orleans is one of the places that Klaus and his siblings have lived in the longest. "Most of my belongings will surely still be there and some money. We'll get sorted after that."

"Okay," I say as I follow behind him towards the front door, finally having a destination. "And we need to go to a mall or something." He frowns at me. "You want to get updated and that's a good place to start."

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**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please, review, Follow or Favorite. You can review and share your thoughts; express yourselves without limits and tell me what you think so far about the story.**

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	19. Chapter 18

**Well, well! It's been a while and here is yet another chapter that I hope you all enjoy! Loving the love from you all. Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites!**

**Remember, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for everything that belongs to me and I inserted into the story. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 18**

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"This is where I am supposed to be updated on the advancements of this century?" Kol asks as we both step out of the car, looking towards the bustling mall with people coming in and out of it. It's past midday, which means that it shouldn't be too crowded.

We—_we_ and I mean _me_—managed to find a mall in some town in a Kentucky map, after locating and booking a room in a motel not so far off from where the mall is, where Kol left his bag. The day is partly cloudy, but with no signs of rain or of the sun making an appearance any time soon.

It's just gonna be one of those days when it's different, where the sun is up but you can't see it and the dark clouds hang in the sky but with no rain. I smile a bit, liking days like these since they were my favorite; well, that's when I was alive and I could actually feel the elements of the day that used to relax me.

"It is," I say as I stand next to him while he stares at the building that is the mall with criticizing eyes. "It's the best place for it." He turns to me with a quirked eyebrow, to which I smile in return before making sure I am visible to humans as the tingling sensation goes through my body, confirming that I am. "You coming?" I ask as I start walking towards the mall, knowing that he'll follow.

"Well, this is new," Kol says as he walks next to me, smirking as he notices two blonde girls exiting the mall with shopping bags in their hands, wearing tank tops and shorts. I roll my eyes at him while the girls giggle to one another as Kol and I walk into the mall. "I am quite taken with the changes throughout the centuries I was daggered."

"I bet you do," I say dryly, taking in the abundance of the mall with the stores to the sides, a fountain or some other decoration every once in a while as you walk further in, stairs that lead to the next floor, light that shines in through the crystal roof, and decorations that depend on the season we're in, which are of Halloween since we're in October. "Well, here we are."

"This is a mall?" Kol asks as he looks around the place while we walk further in, frowning at the many stores that we pass. Kol looks like a child, curious about the whole place while I watch him with a small smile on my lips, liking how his eyes look around in pure curiosity instead of wariness, anger or some other emotion that puts creases on his forehead.

"Yeah, it's where you can get supplies for almost everything," I explain as the sound of many footsteps and conversations reach my ears, along with the muffled sound of music being played throughout the mall. "We can get you stuff you need like clothes, shoes, deodorant and anything else you might need before we continue on to New Orleans." We stop in front of one of many stores filled with clothes. I also notice a music store in front of the one that we are about to enter, deciding to visit it later. "You'll have to use compulsion to get the clothes since we have no money to buy them and we can't leave before the guy or girl releases it to us."

He frowns at me as we enter the store, surveying the men's area that is on one side of the store. "Why can't we leave right after I compel them?"

"They have to remove a security tag on the item or an alarm goes off if they don't, indicating that something wasn't paid for," I explain and he nods, but I could still see some annoyance on his features.

"I take back my words," he says, to which I frown. "I don't like the rules a simple boutique has; I dread to know the rest."

"Can't you just follow them to the best of your ability?" I ask him, to which I receive a glare.

"Not if I don't see fit to them," he says, to which I sigh. _This is going to be a long trip,_ I think to myself.

"Well, shop to your heart's content," I say as I motion to the store with an arm.

"What about you?" he asks me with furrowed eyebrows, probably curious to know if I will need anything.

I frown, taking my eyes off some pants that might fit him to meet his frowning gaze. "What about me?"

"Won't you be in need of something?" he ask me and I shake my head.

"I'm a ghost, I don't need anything at all," I say as I place my hands in the pockets of my cardigan. "You okay in the head? Because you seem to keep forgetting that I am dead and don't have human needs."

He chuckles. "Oh, I do like that fiery mouth of yours." I raise an eyebrow at him. "Sometimes."

I shrug and he turns to the stacks of sleeveless shirts, scrunching up his nose like I do whenever I see something I don't like. He begins to survey shirts on the stack, not really paying much attention to any of them as a staff of the store approaches; she's a young woman with a too giddy smile, brown hair in a high ponytail and wearing a black polo shirt with jeans.

"Do you need any help?" she asks Kol after having glanced at me, deciding to not pay me much attention and just swoon at Kol's seductive smirk.

"Well, what are you offering?" Kol asks her as he comes to stand right in front of her, smirk still present and I roll my eyes at him, noticing his eyes connecting to the young woman's. "**Why don't you get me some clothes that you think might look good on me so I can try them out and I'll handle the rest?**" The young woman, who is called Bella by her name tag, nods at him with distant eyes that are a sign when someone is under compulsion and she turns to another rack of shirts, beginning to do as Kol compelled her to.

"Well, it seems you have everything under control, I'll just go and entertain myself," I announce, turning around to leave but a tight grip on my arm stops me. I turn to meet Kol's intense eyes, stopping me on my tracks.

"Where are you going?" he asks me, but it sounds more like a demand that I need to oblige to without question. To some girls, a man demanding like that strikes a bad note in them, but I honestly don't care because he is only asking and not forbidding me from doing anything, which I have no problem with so far.

"I'll be in the store in front of this one," I say as I point to the visible store through the display window that is in front of the one we're in. "I'll find you after I'm done, or you can come find me if you're done before I am." He eyes me warily, to which I roll my eyes at. "I'm not gonna stab you in the back or anything; I'm not a Petrova."

"Your ancestor was related to one," Kol argues as his grip on my arm tightens a bit and I release a deep sigh, disliking how he keeps referring me to that specific someone that I have never met but I completely dislike since I somehow inherited her reputation.

"I'll just be at the store in front of this one," I say, his eyes still wary as they bore into mine while I plead him to trust me with mine. "I came with you and I haven't done anything to warrant your hostility towards me."

He looks me up and down as if trying to locate a lie on my before he releases a sigh, saying, "Fine. Do as you wish; hope you know better than to test me."

"I know," I answer, apparently taking him by surprise at my compliance, but I decide not to point it out and get a rise out of him that could backfire. "Well, when you're done here, we'll go to another store of your liking."

He nods before releasing my arm. "I bet Rebekah enjoyed places like this one."

"She does," I say, taken aback at his change of attitude, which is actually making some type of normal conversation after threatening me. "Now, remember not to eat anyone in public or hidden, you don't know if there are cameras around to watch you and get us into trouble."

"Aren't you bossy," he says, smirking as he invades my personal space, standing right in front of me with his eyes penetrating mine. "You also appear to take the fun out of everything."

"You mean that I am watching out for you," I clarify while he continues smirking at me and I match his stance with my own smirk, not backing down this time like I did back in Mystic Falls. Deciding to be bold and seeking some payback, I take an even closer step towards Kol, our chests almost touching. "Remember, things are way different now from how they were a century ago. I'll be at the store in front of this one, so come get me if you need anything or I'll come and get you if I finished first."

"I do enjoy how much you care about me," he says as he lifts a hand and takes a strand of my hair, twirling it around his finger, causing me to freeze and blush. "Worried I might get lost?"

I huff. "I have nothing to worry about." It's true since he is no child, but I do worry about how childish he is and how fast he can get into trouble.

"Your eyes say otherwise," he says as he tugs the strand of my hair that he has wrapped around his index finger.

"Maybe," I breathe, stepping back and the strand of my hair falls from his finger. I turn away from his smirking face, walking towards the exit of the store as I get my breathing under control while my shallow-beating heart stops ramming so hard against my chest whenever it does beat.

"Nicely played, my dear Gwen," I hear Kol say from behind me and I grin to myself, proud that I didn't back off but worried about what I am really getting myself into with this Mikaelson.

I exit the store where Kol is apparently having his clothes picked out for him to try on before compelling them for himself and walk over to the store opposite to the one I was in not a couple of seconds ago.

I enter the music store, noticing there aren't many people in it; just a few here and there. I smile as I see the many racks full of music CDs in the middle of the store with a corner with a few racks of old records and another where instruments are laid out, displayed for the customers who might want to buy them. I go over to the corner with the instruments first, seeing a young boy testing some drums, to which I smile at how good he is.

I approach the section where guitars are displayed, smiling as I brush the tips of my fingers on the chords of one of them. Suddenly, I miss having my own guitar to play whenever I wish to, but the circumstances aren't the best to be carrying a guitar. I sigh and turn away from the guitars, going to an aisle between music CDs, surveying them as I walk.

My eyes widen when I recognize a CD, going over to where it is stacked on the rack. The CD is about the American rock band Weezer. And what I love about it is that it has one of my favorite songs; and I have _a lot_ of favorite songs. I smile and walk over to one of the machines that are hooked on the racks where I can sample the CD. I put on the headphones that are attached to it before having the machine scanning the CD. I look at the screen and scroll to the song I have my mind set on. I press play and smile as the song begins.

_Hip hip_

_Hip hip_

_Hip hip_

_Hip hip_

_When you're on a holiday_

_You can't find the words to say_

_All the things that come to you_

_And I wanna feel it too_

I smile as I sing to the song, only using my lips as I mouth the song while I hold to the headphones, keeping them in place since they're broken and would slip off my ears if I let go. I begin to sway to the song, but not exactly dancing, just swaying to it as I begin to hum to it. I frown as I feel eyes on my, but I shrug it off, keeping my attention to the song.

_On an island in the sun_

_We'll playin' an' havin' fun_

_And it makes me feel so fine_

_I can't control my brain_

_Hip hip_

_Hip hip_

_When you're on a golden sea_

_You don't need no memory_

_Just a place to call your own_

_As we drift into the zone_

_On an island in the sun_

_We'll playin' an' havin' fun_

_And it makes me feel so fine_

_I can't control my brain_

I chuckle lowly as the tempo of the song begins to pick up. I sigh with a smile, knowing that the song is close to taking me back to memories I'd rather not bring into the front of my mind, for they are just too painful to even begin to think about.

_We'll run away together_

_We'll spend some time forever_

_We'll never feel bad anymore_

_Hip hip_

_Hip hip_

_Hip hip_

I gasp in surprise when the headphones are pulled off of me, turning around to find Kol holding them in one hand with furrowed eyebrows while holding shopping bags in the other, causing me to smile a bit at how human and normal he looks, except for the weird look he's giving to the headphones. I turn to the machine and press pause, causing Kol to further frown at the headphones.

"You're done?" I ask him and his eyes meet mine, a grin on his lips.

"Yes and I'll have you picking out my clothes next time," he says and I give him a questioning look that he notices. "That Bella may have been a delightful snack," he explains and I roll my eyes at him, "but she has horrible taste when it comes to clothes."

"Did you kill her?" I ask him, not liking the idea of him killing so easily, especially in such a public place.

"I did not," he says, indignant that I made such an assumption. "I am not an animal." He smirks. "Well, sometimes." I roll my eyes at him as I take the headphones from his hand.

"You're a comedian," I say as I hang to headphones on the machine.

"What's that?" Kol asks me as he looks around the place, amazed.

"This is a music store," I say. "You can buy CDs or records to hear music. There is also a section where they have instruments for you to buy."

"You mean to tell me that these little things," he says as he picks up a music CD case, "have music in them?" I nod, to which he quirks an eyebrow, apparently impressed.

"You should see an iPod," I say.

"Well, you're lucky you have me to teach you about real music," he says, puffing out his chest a bit, apparently proud of his knowledge in music.

I scoff with a smile, feeling a bit insulted. "Excuse me, but I have an excellent taste in music. You're the one who needs to be updated."

"We'll see about that," he says as he discards the CD case without a care. "What's an iPod?"

"Well, we can deal with music and iPods when we're more settled," I say as I motion for him to leave, only to receive a pout from him. "It's too much work to explain, especially when it comes to the evolution of music."

"Fine," he sighs in annoyance, walking out of the store and I follow behind him. "But you owe me and I have a few ideas in mind on how you can repay me." I shake my head at him as we begin walking next to one another when we exit the music store.

"Why don't you stick with your charm, Mr. Mikaelson?" I ask as I survey some stores, looking for one that may be good for him. I search for ones that have a style close to Klaus', assuming that he might like clothes that are more like Klaus's style.

"You like my charm?" he asks and I know that he's smirking, even if I'm not actually looking at him.

"It's tolerable," I tease, to which he chuckles.

* * *

"We just sit here and eat like some mongrels?" Kol asks and I knew that he would complain about eating at the food court with the tables scattered around and not much privacy.

"It's for fast food, Kol," I explain as I arrange the shopping bags on the sit next to me that are filled with things that Kol compelled for himself, turning to see him frowning at his food across from me. I managed to convince him to eat something and we had gone to a burger joint. "If you wanted something more fancy or private, we should have gone to a restaurant, not a food court."

"Sod it," he says as he starts by eating the French fries, causing me to chuckle at the amazed look on his face. "This is interesting."

"That's fast food for ya," I say, watching him eat. "Fabricated food is popular in this century."

"Do I even want to know?" he asks me after gulping down a bite of his burger.

"Nope," I say, smiling. He shrugs and continues eating. "What now?"

"One more store should be enough," he says and we hear the familiar ringtone of his iPhone, which causes him to groan in annoyance before taking it out of the pocket of his jacket. He looks at the screen with a frown before answering it. "Is there a chance for me to hope you'll stop calling in the near future?" I sigh, hoping it's Klaus who called. "She's here." Kol looks at me with a smirk. "And she is quite fine, especially after having a taste of her delectable blood."

I huff as I snatch the phone from his hand, putting it to my ear. "He's lying. I'm fine so no need for you to go into a paranoid episode or something."

"_You're sure?_" I hear Klaus ask me, smiling at the sound of his voice.

"I'm sure," I say, noticing Kol is almost finished with his human meal. "How are things, Nik?"

"_Oh, you know, a bit of this and that,_" he says, to which I sigh, knowing that he's up to nothing pleasant when he doesn't give me a straight answer.

"That's a bit worrisome," I say.

"_It's not something too bad,_" he says, causing me to snort.

"Do you expect me to believe you?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "What are you up to, Nik? And don't lie."

"_All will be revealed soon enough,_" he says and practically feeling the smirk that must be on his lips at the moment. "_There's no need to fret, Cat._"

"Yeah, well, what kind of a best friend would I be if I didn't?" I say before the phone is snatched from my hands, to which I groan in annoyance as Kol holds it up to his ear.

"I wish you luck in your endeavors, Nik," says Kol. "Stop meddling into mine." He hangs up and puts the phone away in the pocket of his jacket.

"I think that you hanging up on Nik will not end well," I say, intending to tease.

"Yes, well, he always manages to catch up, dagger and put me in a box for another century," he says, to which I lose my teasing mood at how serious he becomes while keeping his eyes locked with mine. "You've only have to deal with his good side. I, on the other hand, have dealt with his foulest of moods, including choosing others over his own family."

"I'm not gonna justify Nik's actions, but that's in the past," I say, not liking the turn of topic. "You're un-daggered now."

"Until he daggers us all once again," he counters.

"I won't let that happen," I say, to which he frowns as he folds his arms on the table, pushing the tray where his food was to the side.

"Why does it matter to you if we're daggered or not?" he asks me and I know that it won't be easy to have him understand my reasoning.

"I felt the pain the daggers inflicted on you, so I wanted it to stop," I begin, loosing myself in my own thoughts. "I knew the pain the daggers inflicted and I hated it."

"Why?" he presses, to which I groan in annoyance. "You didn't even know us, right?"

"Because I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on anyone else," I say. "Besides, it's unfair how you were forced to spend all that time in a death-sleep that you couldn't wake up from. I really hate those daggers." I feel a bit of relief by saying all that since I couldn't just say it to Klaus without some argument erupting.

"How do you even know what it felt like?" he asks.

"The pain of death is something I am an expert on," I say, sighing as I look away from his eyes, finding that they're too distracting and get me to loosen up my tongue. "I experienced it once and I can't imagine how it must've felt since being daggered is close to death. I wouldn't wish that just on anyone and it's why I won't let Nik dagger anyone else, if I can help it."

"Well," Kol says and I look up to find him sighing as he stares at the table, "you really lack the ability to choose a proper goal to set yourself on accomplishing."

I scoff at him, looking away in annoyance. "Thanks for the compliment," I say, annoyed at his insensibility and lack of gratitude, for I did plan on un-daggering him and his ungrateful behind.

"Take it as incentive," he says and I frown before meeting his eyes with mine. "Set your goals for something that'll be worth it in the end, not something that is in a never-ending, vicious cycle that will last for the rest of eternity."

"I'd rather not set my goals too high," I say. "Besides, I'm not in a position that provides many opportunities for my life, or the one that I don't have."

"Then live in the moment, darling," he says, surprising me with his endearment that causes me to feel warm and tingly inside my chest. "And I know I can help with that."

"Really?" I ask with a raised eyebrow and arms crossed over my chest in a challenging way that seems to be amusing to him since he's grinning widely. "Pray tell…what can you help me with?"

"For starters, I can show you how to have fun," he says and I can't help but glare at him since he practically told me I am dull. "You're too much like Nik and need to loosen up a bit."

"For your information, I knew how to have fun when I was alive," I say. "I just haven't had too much of it as of late. Death kinda puts a damper in someone's life."

"Only if you let it," he says. "Live in the moment, my dear Gwen. That's what we'll be doing."

"Okay," I say, liking the idea, for now. "But refrain from slaughtering an entire town. Nik mentioned you're prone to do so."

"I make no promises that I know I might break," he says, to which I nod, taking what I can from the youngest Mikaelson.

* * *

"Today was productive," I say from where I sit on one of the cushioned chairs in the motel room we're staying in, watching Kol begin to settle for the night.

It is already past dark and we had managed to buy more clothes for Kol, some hair gel, deodorant and many other necessities that he'll need in the future. We also got another bag to put his stuff in since only one bag isn't enough to fit all his stuff. Kol had gone out earlier to have a snack, which surprises me the amount of feeding he does on a regular basis. He has gone feeding for two days straight, returning as if he drained dry the bodies of the occupants of a bar.

"It lacked fun," he says, annoyance in his tone.

"I bet your definition of fun is quite bloody and we can't afford to bring attention to us," I say, to which he scoffs disdainfully.

"As if I care about the humans," he huffs, smug smile on his lips, "or anything else, for that matter."

I sigh. "I know you don't, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious," I say as I watch him settle down on his bed while I hug my legs to my chest and place my chin on my knees. I sigh, staring into nothing in particular like any other sleepless night.

"Are you really going to always sleep on a chair?" Kol asks and I look up to find him on his back with his eyes closed, wearing sweats and a t-shirt. I couldn't help but notice how less tense he seems and how more human he appears. "Isn't it uncomfortable?"

"It's fine," I say. "I don't mind. Why would I use a bed when I won't use it for what it's made for?"

"But is it not more comfortable for you to lie down?" he asks and I think over his question. On one hand, I do prefer to lie down. But on the other, I don't mind sitting all night since it really doesn't cause problems for me. "I promise not to bite…much." He smirks.

"Are you saying that you want to share the bed with me?" I ask, smiling with a quirked eyebrow. "I really don't need it."

"I find it annoying that you sit through the night without so much as at least lying down," he says and I sigh, not really knowing what to do or even respond because I won't ask him to let me sleep on the bed, it's not necessary and it might be a bit awkward. "Are you coming or not?"

"Are you sure?" I ask, needing a bit of more confirmation. "I don't mind sitting, I've done it before."

"Just get in already," he huffs, opening his eyes to meet mine and I couldn't help but stifle a gasp at the intensity in them.

"Okay," I say, standing up slowly before making my way over to the only bed in the room. I stand near the edge, contemplating if this is a good idea since he did try to kill me the first time we met and every other factor that has him hate me doesn't help his case. "You promise to be discreet and not kill me in my sleep?"

He chuckles. "By discreet you mean…"

"No funny business," I say. "You stay on your side and I stay on mine." He rolls his eyes at me before scooting over to one corner of the bed. "You promise?"

"I give you my word," he says, keeping his eyes on me as I sit on the bed and lie down on my side, placing my head on the pillow before facing him as our eyes lock on to one another. "You only needed my word?"

"You haven't given me a reason not to trust you, but I bet your siblings would say otherwise," I say, getting lost in his dark orbs that have me frozen on the spot.

He chuckles. "They tend to see the worst before the best in others."

"What about you?" I ask as he turns to lie on his side to face me fully instead of having his head turned to me. "You did try to kill me before I could even utter a single word."

"That was instinct and I really thought you were her," he says, glancing down at the sheets of the bed. I couldn't help but notice the memories that seem to be playing in his mind through his eyes, watching his brows furrow in anger. "You may not be her, but you haven't proven you're not like her."

"Why do you hate her so much?" I ask, for the curiosity and yearning to know is eating me alive as his heated glare turns to me, which makes me slightly nervous at what he might do in his angered state.

"I believe it is none of your business," he grounds through gritted teeth before turning to lie on his other side, facing away from me. I frown when I couldn't help but feel the pang of hurt strikes my chest.

I yearn to know what Jen did to Kol to make him so hostile towards me when I see him be so charming every now and then with others, even though they turn out to be a meal at the end of the day. He doesn't seem to like the fact that I look like Jen, but I feel that his anger towards me is not just because of my looks. His anger is something else and I know it has to do with Jen, but he seems confused at the same time.

All in all, I am determined to find out who exactly is Kol Mikaelson. He can't just be the youngest Mikaelson brother. He can't just be a violent maniac. He can't just be the unpredictable brother that seems to an annoyance to everyone. He can't just be so angry all the time and not care. I don't know if I am setting my goals too high, but I won't give up on getting to know him. I didn't give up on Klaus, so I don't have reason to give up on him.

I sigh, still facing his back since it appears to be what I'll be staring at for the rest of the night. "Goodnight, Kol."

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and continue to do so in future chapters! Remember to throw anything at me through reviews or PM! I like to know what you all think and whatnot.**

**Well, thanks for reading and see ya later!**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hello, lovelies! And I present to you yet another chapter for you all to enjoy as much as I do. Do remember that I own nothing of the Vampire Diaries. I only own the twists and turns that do not belong to TVD.**

**Well, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

* * *

After leaving the motel we stayed at on our second night travelling, Kol took to the road slower than before. The ride is silent after the argument—if it can even be called that—we had before we left the motel, which left me fidgeting with the hem of my cardigan a lot since I dislike the heavy and awkward silence that lingers on us, weighing on us like if you enter a bar where everyone is smoking and the air is dense.

I'm actually starting to question why did I even come and why did he ask me to join him; I couldn't make sense of any of it, except for the fact that he honestly found me intriguing since I look a lot like Jen, which is enough to rope in the interest of any Original. I know that I took a leap of faith since I didn't want to be stuck in Mystic Falls, following Klaus around without doing much when I could be doing something close to fun while travelling with Kol, which is what it used to be like with Klaus. Besides, I didn't feel like I wanted to part with Kol just yet; like I seem to intrigue him, he intrigues me and I want to know him more than just knowing he is Klaus' younger brother, who is volatile and violent.

We were on our way into Tennessee, our destination being New Orleans, Louisiana. The car ride continues to be too silent for my liking and I could tell that it is also making Kol frustrated by his sighing every once in a while. I couldn't tell if it is because of anger or because he wanted to make amends, but I knew I had to be the one to reach out first since every Mikaelson seems to be too proud to admit to a fault.

"Where have you been to?" I ask as I look to him and he turns to me with a frown, probably not having expected me to talk to him any time soon, which is what I assume by the look of surprise on his face.

"Pardon?" he asks, his face confused.

"I haven't been anywhere outside the country, but you seem to have been," I say and he nods with a grin slowly making an appearance on his lips.

"I have," he says.

"Would you mind telling me about it?" I ask. "Like you said, I haven't been anywhere and the world fascinates me to no end. I actually had planned to travel but never got around to it."

"Well, I spent a lot of time in New Orleans, England, France and Spain," he says as I turn my body on the seat to give him my full attention. "I was mostly on my own and I was the life of the parties." He grins proudly and I chuckle.

"I would love to go to England," I say with a smile. "The accents alone convince me enough."

He grins at me while wiggling his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Don't flatter yourself," I say honestly, to which he opens his mouth to retort with a grin but seems to realize that whatever he was about to say wasn't meant to be for me, so he closes his mouth in a tight and thin line. "What about New Zealand? Have you been there?"

He narrows his eyes, deep in thought as he must be going through his memories. "I remember I took a very brief detour there during the 1600s, which is actually around the time it was found and people were settling."

"That's another place I would like to visit," I say with a smile. "It's where the movies of The Lord of the Rings were filmed." Kol glances at me with a frown. "They are films based on a book." He raises an eyebrow at me. I sigh, remembering that he won't know what I am talking about since he was daggered during the time that things like movies began to evolve. "We need to get you updated on _many_ movies."

"Movies?" he asks and I nod.

"It's what you would've watched in the theaters from a century ago, but they're much different now. They are watched in screens and in color; they also have special effects and stuff."

"I really need to catch up with things," he says exasperatedly. "It's bad enough that this age is too consumed with technology."

"We'll get there," I say, offering him a smile and he glances at me in acknowledgment with his own cheeky smile.

* * *

By today, which is our second or third day traveling, I taught Kol a few things about the evolution of films, phones, computers, music, dancing and much more in hours. I found out he enjoyed the same type of dancing that I do, even though he said he was open to any type with a flirty look. He also showed great interest in the music of this age when I turned on the radio of the car to have him listen to whatever was on. I refrained from talking about an iPod, deciding that it is better to talk about them when we're more settled and we can work on it as we found a motel to settle in for the night.

I am only thankful that he already knew some of the history that he has missed since Klaus had apparently been ready and left some books for Kol to read, which showed that Klaus was so used to dagger his siblings that he knew what to give them for them to be settled with whatever history they have missed during the time they've been daggered.

I regretfully taught him how to play games in his phone, which only got him to get addicted to them. Computers would have to wait since he didn't pay much interest in them, saying that he would prefer a book over millions of options of one thing with information that varied between truth and fiction. What actually got his full attention was music and it didn't surprise me he liked rock genre and upbeat songs, which contrasted the type of music that Klaus likes.

The sun is setting and we already settled ourselves in some motel in a little town. Kol would go hunt later on in the night and what transpired in his hunting was unknown to me, except for when he came back with blood on him.

We are now eating at a diner and I know we are somewhere in Arkansas, making myself visible to not make him look like a crazy person talking to thin air and he made me eat since he didn't appreciate that he ate while I just stared at him as if I was hungry.

"What are you having, my dear Gwen?" Kol asks me as we look over the menus after a waiter gave us our table next to the display window of the diner.

"You do know that I don't need to eat, right?" I ask as I glance at him over my menu.

"Humor me, darling," he says, not looking up from his menu and I'm glad he didn't since I knew that I am blushing at the pet name he rarely uses to refer to me.

I have heard him call other girls by the pet name without problem while wearing a smirk whenever we stopped for him to eat or crossed them in whatever motel we were staying at, but he still holds back with me and I know it has to do with Jen. _At least he's not glaring at me,_ I think to myself before turning back to my menu. I have come to notice that he shows a bit of disdain or resentment towards me whenever he uses 'my dear Gwen' to refer to me, which brings me comfort whenever he doesn't use it.

I look up as a brunette waitress approaches us with a smile on her face. Her hair is up in a ponytail and she has light brown eyes with a small dusting of freckles. Once she got a good look at us, her eyes become more interested in Kol, who hasn't looked up from his menu to acknowledge her. I feel glad he hasn't, to which I frown at the strange feeling. I look at the tag on her uniform that says her name, which seems to be 'Alex'.

"Are we ready to order?" she giddily asks us as she takes out her small notepad to get our order.

"I would like some water," I say as I glance at her and Kol looks at her for the first time, grinning as he looks at her up and down as if checking her out; well, looking more like he's checking out his next meal while I roll my eyes at him.

"I'll have a soda, darling," Kol tells her with a smirk and she winks at him, causing me to glare down at my menu.

"I'll have grilled cheese," I say, closing my menu with pursed lips. "I am allergic to salt, so don't put any in mine." She gives me an odd look before shrugging and writing down my order.

"I'll have the steak," Kol says as he closes his own menu. Alex writes down our order and takes our menus.

"I'll be back with your order," she says as she grins at Kol, winking at him once more before taking her leave, to which Kol smirks, but it changes as he looks to me while leaning back on the back of his chair.

"Are you really allergic to salt?" he asks me with furrowed eyebrows.

I shake my head in disagreement. "No, but salt harms me, no matter how it's used. Iron is also something that would harm me. They both burn like hell. They are harmful to me like vervain is to you and any other vampire."

"That's interesting to know," he says.

"Someone has an admirer," I say wryly in reference to Alex, meeting Kol's eyes as I lean my chin on my hand with the elbow propped up on the table.

He smirks. "Is that jealousy I detect, dear Gwen."

"Don't count yourself that lucky," I say, to which he grins. "And you practically had sex via eyesight and it's a bit uncomfortable." He only continues to grin before he leans on his folded arms on the table.

"Well, she's more like the type to take a nip from," he says and I chuckle without humor.

"What is your type?" I ask nonchalantly. "Well, apart from having a sharp tongue."

"They have to appreciate my looks, for one," he says and I chuckle at his grinning—yet, serious—face. "I would also prefer them to be honest, but who likes a lying tramp."

"That's true," I say and Alex comes back with our drinks. "Thank you," I say as she hands me my glass of water.

"Thank you, darling," Kol tells her with a seductive grin as she gives him his drink before taking her leave, a giddy smile on her lips.

"You're most welcome," Alex says, talking only to Kol as if I wasn't even here—even made me check if I am visible— and it is getting annoying. She takes her leave and practically skips away n her happiness.

I decide to strike a gentler and cheesy conversation with Kol and ask, "What's your favorite color?"

He frowns at me as he takes a sip from his soda and I take one from my water. "What's my favorite color?"

I nod. "Humor me."

He smirks since I used his own words against him. "Red, like the delectable thing that is blood," he says and I roll my eyes at him while smiling. "Also…like roses on a bush or the sunset I had once witnessed while in Spain." I smile at the faraway look in his eyes, looking as if remembering his time in Spain that seems to bring a small smile to his lips but it disappears instantly. He shakes his head before meeting my eyes with a grin on his lips. "What's yours?"

"Mine is blue, from the color of the deep blue sea or the dark blue of a starry night," I say, remembering many nights when my family and I would gaze at the stars from the porch of our home. "What's your favorite food?"

"Anything that's not green, but I don't mind eating anything, including ghosts," he says with a wide smirk that I return with an annoyed look. "You?"

"I loved Italian food," I say with a smile. "When I was alive, I always picked what we would have for dinner on Saturdays and Mom labeled the day 'Sabato'—Italian word for Saturday and I bet you already knew that—since I always chose something Italian." I smile at the memory, but my smile falters when I realize I just told Kol something that I made clear I didn't want to talk about.

"What do you like to do, dear Gwen?" Kol asks, changing the topic and I am grateful that he did. "You must have some hobby."

I hesitate, but I know I have to get used to Kol since we'll be together for some time. "I like to play guitar."

His eyebrows rise in surprise. "Really? Can you sing?"

"Yeah, I used to do both to get my little sister to sleep," I say, taken aback at how easily I reveal these things to him, probably because I am getting comfortable with him. "But I never played for anyone else."

He pouts. "Would you play me something?"

"Get back to me in a century," I say.

"I have a feeling you will play something for me in the near future," he says before Alex arrives with our food.

"Have a nice meal," Alex says and Kol grins at her flirtatious smile before she leaves.

"Do you want the room for the night?" I ask him. "I can go on a midnight ramble and come back by morning."

"No need, dear Gwen," he says before we begin eating our food. "I prefer you for company over any harlot." I smile at him before digging into my dinner, even though I won't feel it or anything.

* * *

"I'm stuffed," Kol announces as he rubs his stomach while grinning at me, but I feel the same as always, which is neither stuffed nor famished, even though I ate my food and drank my water, not even feeling a bit of what the food tasted like as I left my dishes empty.

"You're going to pay or compel?" I ask him and he chuckles.

"Compel, obviously," he says as he stands up from the table and I follow his example. "Wait outside while I deal with this." I nod and turn to walk outside with our motel right in front of us, but across the road as I stand in the parking lot of the diner.

Once outside, I stop concentrating on being visible as I look up at the starry night, sighing in relief as the tension leaves me. I hug myself and smile up at the sky, loving the feel of being less oppressed and freer. I turn to the corner of the alley next to the diner after a strange sound came from it, to which I frown while the familiar, cold chill of death goes up my spine.

I shake the feeling off and approach the alley. I round the corner and freeze at what I find. Alex, the waitress that tended to me and Kol in the diner, is pressed against the wall of the back of the diner by Kol. Her eyes rolled back as Kol holds her limp body with an arm around her waist and another on the back of her head as he drains her of her blood. His fangs are attached to her neck while a trickle of blood goes down her neck, soaking her shirt.

Kol pulls back from her neck with a wicked smile of relief before letting go of her body, letting it fall unceremoniously on the ground without a care. I gasp when it thuds on the ground, not making a single move that would indicate me that she is still alive. I stare at the body with wide eyes before looking up at Kol as his bloodshot eyes with veins protruding on the skin under them meet mine in surprise, clearly not having expected to see me here. His face changes back to normal; the only evidence of his feeding is the trickles of blood going down from his lips to his chin.

He opens his mouth as he takes a step towards me, but I close my eyes and disappear from the sight, not wanting to know if I had angered him by intruding on him while he fed and I honestly didn't want to deal with it. I hated how her death affected me like any other death that occurs and I am near the vicinity. I hiss lowly at the stinging feeling on my neck, which is the area where Kol had his fangs inserted in Alex's throat. I massage it and sigh as it slowly fades away.

I open my eyes as I sigh in relief, finding myself back on the motel we are staying at and I turn on the lamp on one of the nightstands on either side of the bed. I take a deep breath and calm down before sitting on the edge of the only bed in the room. I frown and become alert at another presence in the room, standing on my feet and ready to defend myself.

"I know you're there," I say as I look at the darkened doorway of the small kitchen. "Come out!"

"Easy, Cat," I hear Klaus' voice as he steps out of the shadows of the kitchen and I smile at him before launching myself at him and throwing my arms around his shoulders, to which he wraps his arms around my middle while chuckling. I am only relieved to have him here with me, not caring how he found us or why he is here, but I really need his comforting arms around me.

I pull back from his embrace, still holding onto him and smiling up at him. "I've missed you."

"Feels like a century," Klaus says as he smirks at me just as the door of the room opens behind me.

"Gwen?" I hear Kol ask as I turn to see him entering the room. He looks around the room for me while closing the door behind him, freezing in his tracks when he spots Klaus, which causes him to frown. "Niklaus?"

Klaus has Kol pinned to the wall before I even blink, causing me to take a sharp intake of air, not surprised that he did that but not having been prepared for it. Kol merely smirks at Klaus as the latter keeps a tight grip on the former's neck.

"Hello, Nik," Kol manages to say as Klaus keeps a tight grip on his throat, smirking at the glare Klaus is giving him.

I approach them and grab the arm Klaus is using to pin Kol. "Stop it, Nik," I hiss, not wanting a fight to break out while trying to calm him down since he seems to still be upset that I left with Kol, and I didn't even tell him before I left, but Klaus is like that; dominant and possessive. "Let him go, Nik!"

"Did you think there wouldn't be repercussions for taking her, little brother?" Klaus growls at Kol.

"Are you jealous?" Kol mocks him before pushing Klaus away and into the ground, but the latter gets to his feet the moment he touched the floor, turning to Kol with a glare while I stand next to Kol. "Besides, she came out of her own accord. I can be more fun than you, big brother."

Klaus pulls out a stake and my eyes widen, noticing it as Kol takes a step back when he sees it, only to bump against the wall. Klaus lunges at Kol and I stand in front of the latter, stopping Klaus in his tracks with my back pressed against Kol's front while Klaus frowns at me and I feel Kol holding my arms, pulling me back against his chest in a more protective manner than using me as a shield.

"Move, Gwen. I need to teach my brother not to take things that don't belong to him," Klaus says through gritted teeth in his anger and I stand straight, challenging Klaus' form with my own as I feel Kol's hands drop from my arms.

"He didn't take me, Niklaus," I say and he steps back, knowing that I am upset. "Besides, I am not a possession. I came with him out of my own free will." Klaus sighs and throws away the stake before sitting on one of the cushioned seats, looking like a pouting child.

"You're fine here, then?" Klaus asks me and I step closer to him.

"I'm fine, Nik," I say as I grab his hand and he looks up to me while I give him a smile. "Besides, Kol _needed_ a guide in this century. He would have been completely lost."

"I resent that," Kol says as he sits on the other cushioned chair on the opposite side of the table that is opposite to Klaus. "How did you find us?"

"The easiest way to track you is to follow the trail of dead bodies," Klaus says as he grins at a smirking Kol. "Especially a bar that had its occupants drained of their blood."

"Apart from trying to kill your brother, why did you come?" I ask him as I sit on the edge of the bed in front of them, ignoring the fact that Kol desolated a whole bar. "Not that I mind seeing you."

"For one, I wanted to make sure you were fine," he says as he glances at me before turning to Kol. "The other one is my concern about us being linked."

"I forgot about that," I say.

"What do you need?" Kol asks Klaus, his face serious.

"I need you both," Klaus says as he takes out two flasks from his jacket pocket and places them on the square table, "to give me some of your blood. I know for a fact that the witch requires it."

"Wait, you don't know if she needs it?" I ask him.

"Let's just say that she's going to need persuasion," he says and I nod. "To help with the persuasion, I need you both to go to Denver."

Kol and I frown at him. "Why Denver?" we both ask in unison, ignoring the fact that we talked at the same time.

"The one performing the spell is the Bennett witch," Klaus tells me and I nod, remembering her with a frown on my face.

"Bonnie Bennett?" I ask him incredulously. "She hates you, Nik. How are you going to get her to help you unlink us?"

"That is why I need you to go to Denver and pay a visit to her little passing fancy," says Klaus, taking his phone out of his pocket.

"Who is it?" Kol asks.

"Jeremy Gilbert," Klaus says as he shows a photo of the boy to Kol. "Elena Gilbert's little brother that was compelled to leave Mystic Falls for his own protection. This was done after he had a small accident that almost ended his life."

"Small accident? You had one of your hybrids try to run him over," I say, receiving a chuckle from both the Mikaelson brothers that are in front of me, to which I roll my eyes at them. "So, what do you want us to do with him?"

"Keep an eye on him," Klaus says with his dark smirk. "I'll call you if I need you to shake him up a bit."

"What about the white oak tree?" Kol asks.

"Rebekah's onto it," says Klaus. "I trust she'll have its location when I get back."

"All right," I say as I pick up the stake that Klaus brought that is lying near my feet.

Kol opens one flask while I stand and approach the table, opening the other flask. Kol's flask has a black label on it while mine has a white one. Kol's vampire features manifest before biting into his wrist, hovering his bleeding wrist over the flask and filling it with his blood with stray drops of blood falling on the table. Once it is filled, he closes the flask as his wound heals before sliding it over to Klaus, who catches it before it falls off the table.

"Your turn, dear Gwen," Kol says as he turns to me with a smirk. "I can help you if you want." His vampire features manifest, meaning that he wanted to bite me and have a taste of my blood. The thought actually sent a pleasurable shiver down my spine, but I shrug it off.

"Kol, take a step back," Klaus says as he meets Kol's eyes that have returned to normal with a hard look, causing his younger brother to frown.

"Why?" Kol asks.

"Gwen's blood has a strong scent that even attracts humans, normally hormonal males," Klaus explains. "Plus, many vampires have attacked her without her even bleeding, which surprises me that you haven't picked up on it," Klaus says, to which Kol snorts.

"I did pick up on it," Kol says and I frown to him since he never showed any signs of wanting to bite me or lusting for my blood. "I just have perfect control over myself, but the thought of having a taste has crossed my mind."

"You better mind yourself, Kol," Klaus growls and I sigh before lifting the stake, grimacing when I make a cut on the palm of my hand with the pointy tip, holding it over my flask. I see a few drops fall on my table, which is what I am trying to avoid, given the fact that there are two Original vampires that can easily lose control over themselves.

I notice Klaus turn rigid as his attention seems to be only on my blood. His eyes portray the lust he has for my blood, probably imagining having a taste. I can tell that he is keeping himself in check as he manages to tear away his eyes from my blood. I glance at Kol from the corner of my eye to see his rigid form looking out the window of our room. I pull back my hand when the flask is filled and my wound heals before I close the flask as both vampires seem to have regained control of their senses.

"Done," I say as I give Klaus my flask, which he takes and puts it in his jacket pocket with Kol's while I flick my hand to make the blood disappear into a mist from the table.

"Thank you, Cat…brother," Klaus says as he stands up. "And here," he says as he pulls out his wallet and gives me one of his credit cards, which Kol snatches from my hands as he stands behind me.

"What's this for?" Kol asks as he takes a closer look at the card.

"There's money in there," Klaus says as he rolls his eyes at Kol's question.

"How was it that we use it? I forgot," Kol asks me since I had explained to him what a credit card was, to which I explain what it is and how to use it once more, causing him to grin before he puts it in his own wallet that he bought on the road.

"Use it whenever compulsion would not be best to use. The code is the year of you were born," Klaus says and I nod at him. "I'll be taking my leave."

I smile and hug Klaus around his neck, feeling his arms wrap around my waist. "I'll see you whenever, Mouse."

"Likewise," he mumbles into my hair before he pulls away to regard Kol with a small nod, the latter glaring at the former, which causes me to frown since I didn't know why Kol would be glaring at Klaus. "Do I need to remind you what would happen if she's harmed, Kol?"

"You'll dagger and lock me up for eternity," Kol says while rolling his eyes, to which I shake my head at him with a smile while he winks at me. I quickly look away before my cheeks turn red at his wink.

"Well, see you soon," Klaus says before he disappears, opening and shutting the door of the room in a mere second.

Kol and I stand in the room in silence as we now seem to remember what had happened at the diner. I turn from the front door and walk over to one of the cushioned chairs, sitting down on it while Kol seems to be having an internal debate, not appearing to be sure of what to do as he continues to stare at the front door that Klaus used to disappear.

"Kol?" I ask and he starts, turning to me. "Are you all right?"

"You're not upset?" he asks, his face devoid of emotion as he stands a few feet in front of me.

"Why would I be upset?" I ask him with a frown since I honestly don't know why I would be upset with what happened at the diner, even though it did bother me.

He frowns at me. "Did you not find it a monstrosity when I was feeding on that unsuspecting human?"

I shrug with a small smile. "Honestly, no. It's your nature and you need blood to survive; no one should fault you for that, even though you don't have to necessarily kill your victims," I say as I hug my legs to my chest while his eyes seem filled with troubling thoughts as he stares at me. "Granted, I don't like it when people die, but that's just me because I have a whole other view of death. I was surprised to find you feeding on her, that's all and I would be lying if I said that it didn't bother me. I also thought you'd be angry." I rest my chin on my knees as I stare at his confused look.

"Why would you think I'd be angry?" he asks and I shrug.

"I just think that feeding seems to be a bit of a private affair for vampires…," He chuckles at me and I couldn't help but smile; even if he is chuckling at me, I like the sound of his laugh. "What?"

"I wouldn't be angry," he says and a smirk grows on his face. "You could've joined us, if you wanted to." I scowl at him before shaking my head. _He killed the nice moment we were having,_ I think wryly. "Lose the pout, darling," he says as he begins to settle for the night and rest. "I was only joking…unless you did want to." He smirks before taking off his jacket and boots while I watch him lie down on the bed after turning off the lamp that I had turned on earlier, shrouding the room with darkness.

"That would never happen," I say and he guffaws.

"Don't be so sure, my dear Gwen," he says. "You might have a change of mind."

"I honestly doubt it," I say, hearing a small laugh before I know that he has settled in to sleep. "Are you coming?" I smile before appearing on my side on the bed, staring at his surprised look, to which I chuckle.

"What?" I ask as he continues to frown at me with a corner of his lips quirking upwards a bit.

"I'm still not used to that," he says, referring to me appearing next to him out of nowhere.

"One of my perks," I whisper, noticing how he continues to eye me, his eyes soft for a change. "Goodnight, Kol," I whisper as he turns his head and stares at the ceiling with his hands under the back of his bed and a small smile appears on his lips.

"Goodnight, my dear Gwen," he says before closing his eyes and for the first time I gaze at him while he sleeps.

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please do review and share your thoughts or opinions; they tend to inspire me and I like to know what you think so far of my story or anything else about it in particular.**

**I also hope you're all enjoying it as much as I do! XD**

**Well, see ya later!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Another chapter for you all to read! Yay! I want to start off by saying thanks for the reviews, they are inspiration to me and I always take them into account. Continue to inspire me!**

**Remember, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 20**

* * *

"How are we gonna do this?" I ask while following Kol with his bag on his shoulder as we walk into the lobby of some luxurious—not that I'm complaining—hotel in Denver before walking up to the front desk as midday comes to pass.

After Klaus paid us his late night visit last night, Kol and I decided to skip our stop in New Orleans and go directly to Denver. It took some persuasion, but I managed to convince Kol to go to Denver first after I told him it was best to not have Klaus pester us all day long to go to Denver first. I know that Klaus would get angry if we didn't and I am not up to another late night visit with him threatening to dagger Kol; it was getting old and I loathe my tone of voice I use when I get angry. Kol decided that we would go to New Orleans after we have finished our business here in Denver, even though I was the one who came up with the idea, but I kept quiet…for now.

The morning after Klaus' visit, we left bright and early after Kol had gotten a shower and a 'snack'. We got to Denver in a couple of hours, only stopping once at another diner for Kol to eat something since he seems to enjoy modern food, especially hamburgers. Now, we are to get sorted in a hotel that appears to be one where an Original would stay at, for it is prestigious and whatnot.

"I'll befriend the young chap. I'll be his bud and wait for Nik to tell me what he needs from the boy," he simply says as he stands in front of the front desk with the receptionist on the other side of the front desk. She has blonde, bob cut hair with blue eyes and she appears to be middle-aged.

She smiles at us both since I decided to be visible this time at the insistence of Kol. "Hello and welcome," she says politely. "What can I do for you on this fine evening?"

"We'll have your best room," Kol says as he grins at the receptionist that—by what her tag says—is called 'Brenda'.

"We have an available suite. And what would be the duration of your stay?" Brenda asks us as she types in the computer in front of her. "Is this a honeymoon or a get-away?"

My eyes widen in shock at her assumption while Kol smirks before he wraps an arm around my waist before bringing flush against his side, to which I know I blush while feeling a bit warm inside. "Indefinite," Kol says as he hands her the credit card Klaus gave me since she requires it for up until we leave. "And it's more of a get-away." He takes his arm from around my waist to drape it around my shoulders and I forcibly smile at Brenda.

"All right," Brenda says and she gives Kol our room's card keys, which are two. "Your room is on the penthouse floor. I hope you have a lovely stay."

"Thank you," I say as Kol removes his arm from my shoulders and grabs my hand, his warmth almost causes me to gasp, but I hold it in as I tighten my hand around his to keep my gasp inside of me while avoiding his frowning eyes.

"Come along, darling," Kol tells me as he pulls me with him but I lead the way to the elevator, receiving a soft smile from Brenda while I continue to blush. _It's not like I have feelings for Kol,_ I think to myself, but I frown. _Do I?_

Once inside the elevator, I pull my hand out of his before giving him a sour look that he returns with a smug grin while I cross my arms over my chest. "Really?" I ask him as I press the button to our floor.

"Whatever do you mean, my dear Gwen?" he asks me with a fake questioning look, to which I roll my eyes at.

"There are many scenarios that you could've picked and you chose the one where we are presumably sleeping together?" I ask and he shrugs innocently.

"We could," he says and I smack his arm, causing him to laugh since I didn't do him harm as he turns to me, slowly approaching me. "It's true." He slowly backs me up against the wall of the elevator and I frown up at his face, which was inches away from mine; I could practically feel his breath ghost over my reddened face.

I actually feel that overwhelming feeling I felt from when we danced together as we look into each other's eyes. I don't know why I feel this tightening feeling for him as his eyes pierce through mine while my throat begins to tighten in anticipation. His aura is so strong and powerful right now as it actually shrouds over me and I can't even breathe right, even though I don't need to. I can't seem to take my eyes off of his dark ones that seem to have enraptured me and I couldn't help but want to dive into them and be engulfed by his warmth.

Then I remember who he is and who I am, which brings sadness to my being. He is Kol, the Original who fell in love with my ancestor that looked like me. My ancestor, the one who brought him pain and made him loathe her in return, so why not hate me? I bear the face of the woman he hates, but he hasn't tried anything against my life since the first night I saw him. Maybe he's changing? I shake my head to clear my thoughts and take a deep breath.

"Have you ever heard about personal space?" I whisper since our faces were so close and keeping my face collected while he smiles lopsidedly.

"I find personal space overvalued," he says quietly. Before anything else could happen, the elevator rings as the door opens to our floor.

I smile while shaking my head at him and go through him, which causes him to jump in surprise before I step out of the elevator with a grin, him following behind. I wait for him to lead and follow him to stand in front of the door to our room. I took one of the card keys from his hand and swipe it in the handle of the door, pushing it open when the green light turns on. I step inside and smile at how cozy the room seems with Kol closing the door behind us.

Kol's phone rings and I turn to him as he picks it up. "Don't you ever stop being so demanding?" I smile, knowing it was Klaus.

"Hey, Mouse," I greet, knowing that he could hear me and Kol chuckles at the nickname.

"He sends his greetings," Kol tells me and I nod with a smile. "Yes, we're in Denver as you requested without so much as a grateful word, might I add." He is clearly getting annoyed by whatever Klaus is saying, which is most likely a threat.

"What do you want, Nik? We've only just arrived," I say, knowing that he could hear me.

Kol frowns before he cocks an eyebrow at whatever Klaus is saying. "Sure, do you happen to know where he lives?" he asks, waiting for Klaus to answer. "I'll call you when I find him." He hangs up and turns to me. "I have to find Jeremy Gilbert. Be ready for when I return." He drops his bag on the couch and turns around to leave, causing me to frown.

"Wait, be ready for what?" I ask as he opens the door, turning to me and I notice the mischief dancing in his eyes.

"I thought we should have a night out," he says with a smirk while tilting his head to the side. "We are going to the hotel's restaurant, so be ready." He turns and closes the door behind him and I shake my head at him with a small smile.

I turn to the room and walk deeper into it. The place is luxurious, which is not surprising as I walk around the place. It is a very spacious one-bedroom suite with a gas fireplace in the living room, which has a flat screen TV. The kitchen area is modern and fully equipped. It has a large bedroom with a comfy-looking King bed and a private bath. The drapes of the ample windows were open, letting in the bright light of the midday while showing a view of the city of Denver.

* * *

I smile at the form my clothes took for tonight as I inspect myself in the mirror in the bathroom. Like always, I wear my white tank top, light gray leggings—which are not cropped at the moment—and my cream, cardy ugg boots with my necklace around my neck. Over my top, I wear a cream, drape wrap cardigan with long sleeves. I leave my hair loose in its soft waves with a single braid peaking over my shoulder from behind my ear.

I hear the door open and close, so I step out of the private bathroom and meet a passive Kol in the living room, noticing that nothing wrong happened or his attitude would have been everywhere. He turns to me when he seems to have noticed me out of the corner of his eyes and smirks at me while looking me up and down, causing me to look away and not give away that I'm blushing, even though he must've noticed.

"Don't you look stunning?" he says with a flirtatious smile as I look back to him.

"Same clothes, different shapes, Kol," I say in reference to my clothes that only alter slightly, mostly the cardigan that I died in. "You're being quite polite this evening. Is there any reason why?"

"Can't I be my charming self?" he asks while innocently smiling at me.

"Fine by me, Mr. Mikaelson," I say.

"Your clothes aren't the only thing that are stunning," he says with a smirk and I could feel a blush appear on my cheeks; he knows this and it only causes me to become a bit annoyed at the effect he has on me. _This Original is even more of a charmer than Klaus, _I think to myself.

"Thank you." I smile back at him. "You look dapper."

"Like always," he says and I scrunch my nose up with a smile at his arrogance. "Ready?"

"Yeah," I say as I go over to him as he offers me his arm and I take it with the smallest of smiles before he leads us out of our room. "Where did you go?"

"I went to facilitate Nik with a threat. He's having the Bennett witch unlink us tonight," Kol says as we approach the elevator. "I found the Gilbert boy and we're already the best of chums."

"How long does Nik want us to watch him?" I ask as he pushes the button for the elevator and we wait for it.

"It better not be for long," Kol sighs. "This place is a bit dull for my liking."

"Well, let's just make the best of it," I say. "Besides, once this whole thing is over, we can leave."

"Obviously," he says as the door to the elevator opens and we step in; pushing the button to have the elevator take us to the lobby. "Nik's asking for more than he can bargain for, given the fact that he daggered me."

I could tell that the whole daggering-thing still angers him. "I know and, knowing him, he'd rather severe a limb than admit that he was wrong to do it, even if he admits it to myself." This comment elicited a laugh from him, which I quite enjoy the sound of.

"Try spending a thousand years with him," Kol says as the elevator stops at the lobby and the doors open.

"I don't know how you survived," I say, not really meaning it since I love Klaus like I would a sibling, but he does get a bit too moody.

"I took vacations from my family," he says. "Travelled on my own for a while before returning to where Nik had established himself at the time, but I always got separate accommodations. I even ran with some witches for a time."

"Really?" I frown as he leads us into the lobby, directing us to the entrance of the restaurant that is inside of the hotel. "Why?"

"Witches are powerful beings and not to be underestimated," he explains. "I'd rather be on their good side. Besides, they reminded me of a time when I also was like them."

"You were a warlock, I forgot," I say as I remember that he was a warlock like his mother before he was turned into a vampire. "That must've been a huge change."

"It was, but it's best to not speak about such a grim topic," he says and I nod, knowing that he doesn't want to talk about that.

"So…the witches just let you join them?" I ask him, frowning at the idea of witches letting a vampire into their midst as we enter the bustling restaurant.

"I do have my ways," he says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and I roll my eyes at him before we direct our attention to the waiter that is behind a podium.

"Welcome," the waiter—a man that is probably past his thirties with black hair slicked back—says as he smiles at us.

"Yes, I made a reservation for two," Kol says and the waiter opens a book that is on his podium, surprising me that he even made a reservation.

"Name?" the waiter asks.

"Mikaelson," Kol says and the waiter nods after finding the reservation and taking two menus from under the podium.

"Follow me," the waiter says and leads us to a secluded table that is next to the tinted display window. The whole place is literally packed but not too crowded that you didn't have privacy, especially us since we're in a secluded corner. "Here we are. I'll have someone be with you shortly." He leaves after placing the menus on the table for two.

"Here you go, darling," Kol says as he pulls back my cushioned chair and I smile at him gratefully before sitting down. He pushes my chair closer to the table before taking his seat in front of me.

"Do you think they did it?" I ask as I pick up my menu while he does the same.

"Hmm?" he hums as he takes his jacket off, draping it on the back of his chair before looking over the menu.

"I wonder if we're unlinked," I say and he looks up to me from his menu.

"I imagine Nik's persuasion worked," he says. "He's good with it."

"That's true," I say as a waiter approaches us with his blonde, short hair that is slicked back.

Unlike the one that gave us our table, this one only wore a tuxedo without the jacket on and a white apron around his waist like the rest that are tending to everyone's needs, even the women, who all wore their hair in a high ponytail. The waiter tending to us can't be older than thirty and he has light brown eyes that went well with his blonde hair.

"Good evening, I'm Josh. I'll be your waiter for tonight," the waiter says with a smile, lingering on me a bit longer, which I knew that Kol noticed by the narrowed eyes he had on Josh. "Do you want anything to drink in the meantime?"

I nod. "I'll have some water."

"I'll have anything with alcohol in it," Kol says and Josh nods before turning to get our drinks. I notice Kol narrowing his eyes at the back of Josh, causing me to frown.

"What's up with you?" I ask and he turns to me with an aggravated look while still grinning.

"I think _you_ have an admirer," he says with a wry tone.

"Is that jealousy I detect, Mr. Mikaelson?" I ask him and he smirks. "You make me sound like a whore that sleeps around with every man I make eye contact with."

"I never intended to compare you to my sister," he says and I use my menu to smack his arm, causing him to chuckle.

"That's mean!" I scold him.

"No, it's the truth," he says and I scoff at him. "I will never be able to finish counting the amount of men she bedded in the thousand years that we've been alive." I shake my head at him. "Nik did worse, he killed them all, so don't give me that look."

"I believe that," I say, thinking over the years I had with Klaus. "He always killed any male that even looked at me funny. But that doesn't mean you need to call Bekah a whore."

"I can tell you all about her Shakespearean romances that ended in nothing but tragedy," he says, to which I glare at him.

"Here you are," Josh says as he places our drinks on the table. "Are you ready to order?" He takes out his note pad.

I nod, already knowing what I want. "I'll have a salmon, no salt; I'm allergic."

"All right," he says as he writes my order on his pad before turning to Kol. "And you, sir?"

"I'll have the cheeseburger," Kol says and I'm not surprised he ordered that since he has been craving them for a while as Josh writes down his order before taking our menus.

"I'll be back with your order," he says and takes his leave. As soon as he's gone I meet Kol's eyes.

"Really?" I ask him incredulously as I go to take a sip from my water. "I don't want to know about Rebekah's sex life, Kol."

"All right, how about yours?" he asks me, his lips near the rim of his glass and I almost choke on my water before narrowing my eyes at him.

"How about _yours_?" I counter and he shrugs.

"Come on, darling," he says with a grin. "I've had my fair share of women over the centuries. None of them were strumpets, mind you, but none were interesting enough to keep around for long, except to keep the delectable ones for prolonged snacks. So answer the question."

I scoff as I hold my glass of water with both of my hands before saying, "I never…did _that_ with anyone."

It is his turn to choke on his drink before frowning at me. "What?"

"I never met the right guy," I defend myself and it is true. I've always said that my first time should be with someone I truly and utterly cared about and loved, receiving the same in return, but I never found that. "I wasn't just going to sleep with a random guy in some sleazy motel."

"So…" he begins as he looks down at his drink, "you've never had sex? You died a virgin."

I roll my eyes at him, feeling my cheeks get hot since they're probably as red as tomato. "No, I did not have sex before I died."

"Can you still do it as a ghost?" he asks and I shrug.

"I don't think I can and, even if I could, I won't do it with some random guy," I say and he wiggles his eyes at me suggestively. "Neither will I do it with a vampire that tried to kill me."

"You must really enjoy putting me down," he says as he leans back against his chair.

"You do that on your own," I say, grinning over at him.

"Well, aren't you the comedian," he says and I nod as if I always knew I was.

"Thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment."

"I'm taking it as a compliment."

He chuckles. "You've never been with any other man, then? Not even fancy anyone?"

"I have," I say as I remember my days in school. "But the same couldn't be said about them."

"Why?" he frowns as if what I said is preposterous. "Who in their right mind wouldn't notice you? You're hard not to notice." I smile at his words.

"Let's just say that, even when I was alive, I was always like a ghost," I say ruefully. "I was normally on my own and it never bothered me. I actually liked it like that; less people to worry about. I only ever had one close friend, but that ended when she moved away; I don't even remember her face. I also remember a guy that was supposed to be my date to a party, but that went south really fast."

"You're a loner," he says and I nod with a small smile.

"And proud," I say and it is the truth. I never liked to get into friendships that I knew would never last, especially when said friends were the ones backstabbing you in the end; it never happened with Klaus and I doubt it ever will. "How about you? Do you have any friends?"

"Not friends, exactly," he says and I nod. "More like people who earned a favor from me, nothing more. I bet you know how far many people would go to be in an Original's good side, it's quite annoying."

"Well, there's nothing worse than being on the bad side of an Original," I say and he grins.

"You know your Originals, my dear Gwen," he says and Josh approaches our table with our food in both hands.

"The salmon for the lady," he says as he puts my food on the table in front of me, "and the cheeseburger for the gentleman." He puts the other plate in front of Kol on the table.

"Thank you," I say ad smile at Josh gratefully, receiving a nod in return.

"Well, enjoy your food and call if you need anything," Josh says and then takes his leave.

"To a fun night," I say as I raise my glass of water.

"Let there be more," he says before clinking his glass with mine and then we begin eating.

* * *

"I have a valid question," Kol says after we had finished eating as we now wait for him to finish drinking the remnants of his whiskey.

"Go ahead," I say as I lean my arms on the table.

"You never get filled, right?" he asks and I nod. "I can give you a whole banquet of food and you will never be filled?"

"Nope," I answer with a smile.

"Well, that's enlightening," he says and I chuckle.

"What kind of question is that?" I ask him with furrowed brows.

"A valid one," he says and I give him a pointed look.

"I don't think that's a valid question," I say.

"I think it is," he says.

"No, it isn't," I say. "It's…not valid at all."

"We'll just have to agree to disagree," he says and I roll my eyes at him as Josh comes back with the check.

"I hope your night has been pleasant," says Josh. "Would either of you like some dessert?"

"No, thank you," I answer.

"All right, then. I'll leave you to finish," he says and I nod at him with a smile, to which he winks at me before leaving and I snap my head to Kol with wary eyes, noticing how he's practically throwing knives at Josh's retreating back.

"Stop it, Kol," I say with a chuckle at his glaring eyes and they turn to meet mine. "That can't even be considered as flirting when I'm not even flirting back. He was _trying_ to flirt and he was being kind."

"He should know not to even think about flirting with what is _mine_," he practically snarls, causing my stomach to flip at the possessive look in his eyes and my laughter to die.

'_My little brother can be quite impulsive, unstable, twisted and unreasonable. And he can be quite obsessive,'_ that's what Klaus had said about Kol, but he never said anything about the youngest Mikaelson being possessive, which is starting to show as I also remember Elijah's similar words. _'He's unpredictable and quite obsessive as you may know. And, once he has gotten what he's been obsessing about, he will become possessive. You wear the face of the woman who damaged him beyond repair, but now you're a woman who has acquired his interest and that is not easy to achieve. You have spiked his interest and he won't discard you like he would to a human girl.'_

"I'm not an object, Kol," I correct him with a serious look, letting him know that it isn't even funny to refer to me as property.

Kol seems to have realized what he said and shakes his head lightly, but I noticed the emotion neither of us recognized that flashed in his eyes. "I know, but I won't have any man throw himself on you in my very face."

"It's part of being human," I say. "Besides, he was only a boy and doesn't know better; an example of the latter would be when he was being very forward in front of an Original."

He grins and takes the last sip of his drink. "Well, I'm too stuffed to severe the lad' head. He's lucky." I sigh in relief and we stand up from the table. Kol puts on his jacket when his phone begins to ring. He frowns before taking his phone out of his jacket pocket.

"Is it Nik again?" I ask as he looks at the screen before rolling his eyes and answers the phone.

"Don't tell me you want to talk about your romances throughout the centuries with Gwen, sister," Kol says as he grins, remembering our earlier topic of conversation. "We're a bit busy."

"No, we're not," I say so Rebekah hears.

Kol grins at me as Rebekah seems to be talking to him. The more he listens, the more his grin begins to fall. I notice his face becomes blank and completely devoid of emotion, just like when a vampire decides to avoid feeling anything at all. "Well, thank you for the _joyful_ news, sister," he says sarcastically, causing me to frown in concern before he hangs up with an intense glare on his features.

"Kol?" I ask as he stares at his phone before he angrily thrusts it into my hands.

"Let's go," he says as he walks past me and I follow him. He gives the check to the waiter that had led us to our table, compelling him to give us the dinner for free before leaving the restaurant.

"Kol, what's wrong?" I say as I keep up with his pace. "Kol!" I grab his arm and pull him back to face me, meeting his dark look.

"What?" he says through gritted teeth. "Ask Klaus. I'm going out."

"Where? Kol, talk to me," I plead, keeping my grip on his arm.

He snatches my hand and pulls it from his arm, gripping it tight in his. "Ask Nik," he growls and I become worried.

He releases me before going to turn around and I grab his arm again. "Kol-" he suddenly grabs my shoulders in a tight grip, causing me to whimper a bit in his hold.

"Do. Not. Test. Me," he punctuates each word menacingly while I look up at him in worry, noticing the anger and pain in his eyes, which were actually pouring out of his presence. He turns from me and leaves the hotel, leaving me confused at his behavior.

I sigh as I watch him stalk out of the hotel, worried about who will suffer his wrath. Once I lose him from my sight, I turn and walk towards the elevator, pushing the button of my floor. I look down at Kol's phone in my hand, dialing Klaus. I put the phone in my ear, hearing it ring as I arrive to my floor.

"_What, Kol?_" I hear Klaus snap as I swipe my card key on the lock to my room.

"Mouse?" I ask as I enter and close the door behind me.

"_Cat?_" he asks, his voice dripping with concern. "_Did something happen?_"

"No, I'm fine, but Rebekah said something to Kol and he got upset," I say as I turn on the light of the living room, sitting down on the couch. "Did something happen?" I hear silence on the other line, causing me to frown. "Nik?"

"_He's dead,_" he says and my brows furrow, hearing the nervous breath he releases.

"Who's dead?"

"_Finn._"

"Wha-What? How?" I ask, not knowing how to even react since he did want to die and wanted us to follow him into death, but I don't think he deserved to actually die.

"_Stefan and his little group of pests killed him, killing Finn's entire vampire bloodline as well. Bonnie managed to severe our link before he was killed, which is why we're still alive._"

"Are you all right?"

"_Finn may have been my brother, but he was better off dead._"

"Nik, he was still your brother."

"_He was daggered for nine-hundred years,_" growls Klaus. "_I daggered him because he hated what he was and I didn't want to hear any more of it; I thought I was doing him a favor._"

"I'm not gonna say it wasn't your fault that your brother didn't get to live a full life, but it wasn't your fault that he died," I say, knowing that Klaus may not have been so affected by Finn's death, but it is because he turned his emotions off. "I know you hurt, Nik. You couldn't have done anything and you must know this."

"_I didn't want him dead,_" he says so quietly that I almost didn't hear him, which is where I hear the pain in his voice. "_I thought that after I gave him Sage…I thought he would've started living his life how he wanted._"

"I'm sorry that he died," I say. "Remember, you don't have to make yourself not feel. It's all right to do that, Nik. It's not good to keep it bottled up; it's not good for anyone."

"_Be safe, Cat,_" he says, knowing that my words made some sort of an impact, but I didn't know if it was a good or bad one.

"You too, Mouse," I say and hung up, dropping the phone next to me on the couch before leaning back, staring at the ceiling while worrying about Kol.

* * *

I recline on the armrest of the couch, waiting for Kol to return from whoever knows where and I am contemplating on going out to find him, for the news of his brother's death may have taken a toll on him. He has been gone for more than a few hours and it is already past midnight. I sigh and hope that he's fine, knowing that he's not since he has just lost his brother and I know the feeling quite well.

My clothes had changed after I returned to our hotel room, returning to their usual form. The same white tank top and cream, cardy ugg boots with my necklace around my neck. My light gray leggings are now cropped and I had my cream, draped, open-front cardigan with the long sleeves rolled up to my elbows.

I perk up at the sound of the door opening, standing up to see Kol stumbling into the room and shutting the door behind him with his back. I frown as I watch him enter further in while stumbling a bit and his eyes squinting every now and then as if he isn't sure that he's in the right place. What surprises me is that he doesn't have a single drop of blood on him. Either he fed carefully or he didn't feed at all, but by how drunk he is I think he didn't drink any blood.

"Kol?" I say to get his attention and he shakes his head before focusing his eyes on me. For him to be this drunk, he must've drunk _a lot_ and that's a lot to say since vampires have a very high tolerance to alcohol. "Are you all right?"

He chuckles as he leans on the wall. "You know, I'm waiting for you to do something like her," he says and I frown. "It'll give me a reason to kill you, but you haven't…and it's frustrating!"

"Kol, I'm not Jen," I say, knowing that he's talking about Jen and whatever she did to him. She must've completely destroyed him for him to hate her so much, which makes me the one he hates since I look like her. "I will never be like her, I promise you that."

"Lies," he hisses as he stands straight while glaring at me. "She was so kind and charming at first, polite and sweet and _so_ beautiful. But she just had to ruin _everything_. You'll follow in her footsteps sooner or later. You're sweet and kind now, but I know that you'll turn out to be like that _wench_," he growls, causing me to take a step back from him.

"Kol, you're drunk, it's better if you sleep it off," I suggest, taking a step closer towards him, testing the waters. He suddenly appears inches away from my face, causing me to gasp in surprise as our eyes meet and I notice his glazed eyes from being drunk, which I could also sniff from his breath that hit my face. "Kol?"

He lifts a hand and his fingertips lightly stroke my right cheek. I don't even blink while he does this; his eyes have me completely frozen. His fingers on my cheek cause me to feel a weird electrifying sensation around the area that he's touching my skin. I do nothing, just simple keep my eyes connected to his dark ones, which are glazed over as silence overtakes the room. I don't even hear the bustling of the city below or even a whisper of a sound from outside the room as I continue to stare at Kol while he strokes my cheek.

"What is it that you have that keeps me spellbound to you? I don't even dare to harm you in any way," he says, appearing to be talking to himself and I would've believed he is sober with how serious he looks, but his eyes and breath betray him. "And not because you look like her. It's something else and it's _infuriating_. It's not even the scent of your enthralling blood that's going through your veins, being very inviting." I gulp as he leans closer to me, bumping his nose to the left side of my jaw as he takes a deep intake of air through his nose. He grips my waist with his other hand, tugging me closer to him and I put my hand over his firm chest, not liking that his eyes hold lust in them and I know that it's not for intimacy. "Do you know how many bodies I bled dry while on the road so I didn't pounce on you the moment I saw you? I had to burn some to cover our tracks."

"Kol?" I pant uncomfortably, for he was trailing his nose from my jaw to my neck.

I try getting out of his grip, but he holds my waist tighter, causing me to whimper lowly. His hand on my right cheek takes hold of the back of my neck as he buries his nose into my neck while I try to push him away, only to be met with a wall. I can't even concentrate to use my powers in the distress that I'm in with what he's doing.

He pulls back to stare at me as I grip the front of his shirt, looking up to find he had manifested his vampire features. "Kol?" I am met with silence, except for my labored breathing as I look at his captivating face.

Suddenly, his fangs puncture my neck. The feeling of him feeding from me has me opening my mouth, but nothing comes out. Whatever I was going to say was stuck as a lump in my throat, only a groan coming out of me. His grip on my waist and neck tighten painfully, bringing me flush against his front. I could manage to pant and I could barely feel my heart beat hard against my ribcage while trying to fight off Kol but to no effect.

I begin to feel my body be drained of energy, which feels like I am practically as light as a feather while I stare at the ceiling. My hands loosen their grip as they fall limp while my legs begin to buckle, but his grip on me keeps me straight. I hear him moan in pleasure, feeling it vibrate on my skin, which actually sends a small pleasuring feeling through my body, but it disappears immediately.

I yelp in pain when his fangs burrow deeper into my skin. That area where he is biting is getting hot and painful, but my body is getting too numb to actually feel much as I sag completely in his arms. Black spots appear in my vision, slowly taking over my sight; he isn't in any rush, he is actually savoring my blood as my breath becomes shallow.

"Kol," I manage to whisper, feeling a lone tear run down my cheek from the pain before darkness takes me.

* * *

**Dun dun! The end of the chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did when I did when I wrote it. Remember to leave your thoughts in reviews or PMs or whatever.**

**Can never stop stressing enough that I hope you guys liked it.**

**See ya later!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Hey, here is yet another chapter that I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for the reviews, the support and everything else. I hope you all continue to enjoy the story and never forget to review or PM me your thoughts.**

**Remember, I own nothing of the Vampire Diaries, except for that which is obvious.**

* * *

**Chapter 21**

* * *

"_Good morning, Peanut," my father said as I walked into the kitchen of our home while my lips wore a sleepy smile, still wearing my pajamas, which were red pants and a blue tank top since it was a Saturday and I didn't have to wake up early for once._

_My Dad was a man in his forties with short, black hair that inched a bit past his ears that he kept out of his eyes with a bit of gel, but not too much since Mom didn't like it with too much gel. His electric blue-gray eyes were intimidating to those that didn't know him, but he was really a huge teddy bear inside. He was wearing a blue, buttoned-up shirt with khaki pants and brown dress shoes since he was needed to pass by the office. He wore his trademark watch on his left wrist and his silver wedding band on the ring finger of his left hand._

"_Morning, Dad," I said as I walked over to him and kissed his cheek, his head already had been leaning in for me to kiss it before I sat next to him on the small dinner table in the middle of the kitchen while he read the newspaper. "You're going to work today? I thought Mom forbid any of us to have any plans today."_

_He shook his head with a small smile on his lips. "No, I'll only pass by the office for a minute to pick up some papers," he said. "They can't seem to do anything right when I'm not there."_

"_Which is why you're the boss," I said with a small smile as he grinned at me before continuing to read the newspaper. I reached over to the bowl in the middle of the table and grabbed an apple, beginning to eat it._

"_Is that the only thing you're eating, sweetheart?" I heard my mother say._

_I turned to see her entering the kitchen, dressed in a light blue, sleeveless, buttoned-up dress that reached above her knees with a brown belt around her waist and brown sandals to match her outfit. She had her blonde, long, straight hair in a braid that was on her shoulder and her jade-green eyes met mine with mirth dancing in them. She wore a silver chain with a small diamond heart hanging on it that Dad gave her and had her wedding band in her own ring finger of her left hand._

"_You gonna make me breakfast?" I asked her with a grin, already knowing the answer._

"_Your limbs work," she said as she went to the fridge. "If you wanted breakfast, you should've woken up earlier like your sister." She took out a bottle of water, opening it before taking a sip._

"_Yeah, well," I said and my Dad chuckled at my answer without looking away from the newspaper._

"_Well, you better be ready for the evening," Mom told me with a finger pointed at me in warning. "We've postponed this dinner long enough."_

"_I know, Ma," I said knowing that Mom had wanted us all to go out to have dinner for a while but work and school prevented that. "Are we going to the movies after dinner?"_

"_No, please," Dad groaned since he disliked the movies that Mom would pick, for they were always about romance; not that he disliked them, he just had a low tolerance for them._

"_Yes we are," Mom said and Dad huffed since he never questioned Mom, knowing that it could be bad for him in the end, but also because he liked to please her. "No pouting, Richard."_

"_I'm not pouting," Dad said with a clear pout on his lips, causing me and Mom to laugh as a small smile grew on his lips at our laughter._

"_Yes, you are, Daddy," I heard a voice say and I turn to one of the doorways to the kitchen and smiling when I saw her._

"_Morning, sis," I greeted, smiling at the sight of my younger sister._

* * *

_Numb_…That is how I feel when I dance between consciousness and unconsciousness, groaning a bit as I try to force myself to wake up. Darkness still dominates my vision and I hear no sound whatsoever. I actually feel very tiny parts of my body gaining the ability to move, but it is still difficult to achieve this. I feel soreness in my neck that seems to be in control of the numbness in my body, but I can feel it begin to slowly fade away. I can barely even make my fingers twitch and my head isn't helping much with it slightly throbbing.

I begin to take shallow breaths, trying to make my eyes open to escape the darkness that clouds them. After finally prying open my eyes, I notice I am resting on something soft and comfy. I am either on a bed or a very comfy couch. I take note that it is on a bed that I am resting on with the sheet draped over me. Suddenly, my stomach turns violently and it's enough to make my eyes widen while releasing a shallow gasp.

I groan softly as I place a hand over my churning stomach, noticing I'm laying on the bed of the hotel room with the drapes closed, streams of sunlight coming in through the small gaps that the drapes can't block. I look around for Kol, remembering last night's events and I don't have to check my neck to know that it's already healed. I close my eyes and I sit up a bit, managing to lean back against the headboard of the bed with some difficulty.

"You don't breathe when you sleep," I follow the voice to find Kol leaning on the doorway of the room with a steely gaze and a glass in his hand with water in it. "And your heart has a shallow beat." He frowns. "I hadn't noticed that before."

"As always," I say quietly with a nervous smile, not having the energy to raise my voice any higher and I am wary of whatever mood he's in. I frown when I notice I am on the only bed of the room, wondering where Kol slept. "Where did you sleep?"

"I didn't," he answers, to which I frown.

"Why?"

He exhales loudly, hesitating to voice his words. "I thought you were dead."

"Didn't you want that?" I ask, truly curious since he talked about doing that exact thing last night but now seems to be regretting it since he's sober at the moment. "You did say you wanted that."

"I did think about it," he says, his eyes on the glass of water.

"I'm not Jen, Kol," I say, upset that he would just wait that I would do something Jen would, who I am beginning to loath. "It's unfair that you would compare me to her as if I am her exact replica."

He chuckles bitterly before his eyes meet mine. "Can you really blame me?"

I roll my eyes at him and say, "Yes, I can."

"Why are you so upset?" he asks, to which I glare at him.

"Did you just really ask me that?" I begin with a scoff. "First, you bite me and drain me of my blood entirely. Second, you said you were waiting for me to make a mistake so you can kill me and, third, you bit me!" The bulb of the lamp on the nightstand next to me explodes, but we both ignore it.

"No need to be angry, you're fine," he says, glaring in return. "I was out of it and I barely remember anything from last night."

"You haven't even apologized," I say.

"I don't feel I have to, for I was in no control of my actions while under the influence of a high number of drinks," he bites back.

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you wanted to kill me this whole time we've been travelling!" I snap at him, disliking the tone of my voice.

He sighs in frustration as he pushes himself off the doorway to stand straight. "You can be equally annoying as Rebekah."

"I thought it was Jen who I look like," I say wryly.

"Well, you don't," he says, catching me off guard as I frown at him, completely confused by the seriousness on his face.

"What?" I ask and he sighs deeply, his eyes reflecting his annoyance with the change of topic.

"You'd call me a loon, but I do compare you to her while I also don't," he says, his eyes looking troubled. "I'll be in the living room." He turns and leaves, leaving me confused and frustrated as I think over his words.

By the look on his face, I can tell that he's like Klaus in some ways; he doesn't know how to approach the topic of what happened last night without being calm and maybe doesn't even want to, but I can understand him a bit. Even if I do and he was hurting, we'll have to make some adjustments if we're gonna make this work. I take a deep breath and calm myself, disliking how my anger doesn't help the situation, for I understood the loss of a sibling like anyone who has lost one.

Suddenly, my stomach churns violently as I take a sharp intake of air at a nauseating feeling that causes me to grimace. I whimper at the nausea travelling up my throat as I cover my mouth with my hand, forcing the nausea to still for a moment longer before appearing in the bathroom, sticking my head in it as I puke out blood, which causes me to puke more of it.

"Gwen?" Kol enters the bathroom but I don't meet his eyes due to the pain in my body as I pant, holding on to the edges of the toilet seat.

"Did you…" I start but stop as I puke more blood, feeling Kol kneel next to me to hold my hair back from getting blood all over it. I manage to take shuddering breaths as he gently strokes my hair out of my face, which surprises me. "Did you feed me any vampire blood?"

"I did, why?" he asks and I hear the confusion in his tone while I puke more blood into the toilet, which causes my head to throb and my body to slightly shiver every time I puke.

"How much?" I ask, flushing the toilet, but keeping my head over it, knowing that it's not over by the way my stomach continues to turn uncomfortably, knowing that the vampire blood is already making its way up my throat.

"I honestly don't know, darling," he says, rubbing my back with one hand while keeping my hair from my face with the other. "I gave you some of my blood after I…stopped feeding from you. I thought it would heal you faster."

"Vampire blood doesn't work on me," I say, glad that I've had experience and haven't stained myself with blood, which would simply disappear from my clothing.

"What?" he asks incredulously. "How come?"

"My blood doesn't let itself be tainted," I begin as I whimper before puking out more of Kol's blood that he fed me. "It expulses it from my body; be it vampire blood, werewolf venom or anything else that may taint it."

"I didn't know," Kol says absentmindedly and I offer him a reassuring smile, forgetting that I was angry at him.

"I didn't tell you," I say before turning back to the toilet to puke some more. "Besides, the first time will forever be the worst. I was puking everywhere, even on Nik's nice clothes." This causes Kol to chuckle.

"I imagine the outrageous look on his face," he says and I chuckle.

"It was the first time a vampire bit me and he fed me some of his blood with the same intention as yours, but it kinda backfired," I say dryly.

"What do you need?" he asks and I take a deep breath, feeling my stomach continue to churn, for it will keep doing so until Kol's blood is out of my system.

"Lots of water and I need to continue to vomit," I say.

"I can get a bucket and leave it next to the bed so you don't have to stay here," he suggests and I nod my confirmation before puking more blood. I feel a light breeze and turn to see that Kol's gone. He returns in less than a couple of seconds with a bucket in his hands. "Ready?"

I nod and grab the bucket, keeping it close to my chest as Kol flushes the toilet before helping me up to my feet. He keeps an arm around my waist while the other holds the bottom of the bucket, in case it falls from my hands. With his help, I manage to reach the bed, placing the bucket on the floor next to the bed before lying down.

He sits on the edge of the bed with furrowed brows and I ask, "Kol, are you okay?"

He huffs a humorless laugh. "You're asking me if I'm okay when I practically drained you dry last night," he says with a bewildered look and I shrug.

"Did you mean to do it?" I ask, showing him that I'm not upset, just curious, which I am. I could understand why he did it, for I did try to dull the pain when I lost my sister in any way I cold but it only resulted in almost losing control of my mind and my powers. Still, we'll need to work on this situation to not have a repeat.

"No," he answers flatly. "I don't remember much. After I…bit…you, the haze started to lighten the more I drank from you. Your blood is pleasantly odd," he says and I frown.

"How so?" I ask.

"It's…indescribable," he struggles with words with furrowed brows as he stares past me. "It's purely euphoric. I actually felt like I drank life. For the first time in my thousand years, I actually felt alive while I drank your blood. I felt your blood in my body, slowly bringing me to life and I felt lightheaded, as if I was flying high." I sigh, knowing that my blood has a different effect to different species; for vampires, it's the best thing they've drank in their entire existence, like a drug they can't help but be addicted to with a sweet taste to it, or so I've heard. "I didn't want to stop when I began to drink and I was actually becoming sober. It's the best I've ever drank."

"Well, I'll be taking all of that as a compliment," I say with a small smile while lightly blushing at the look of his face, seeing that he's already lusting after my blood.

He frowns. "You're not upset, furious, disgusted, scared or anything at all?"

"I am or was upset, but not the rest," I say. "You're a vampire and your brother died. I know vampires don't feel if they don't want to, but they do lash out in different ways. You were drunk and you miraculously didn't make it rain blood. But I can't compare you to Nik; he's more violent and I am used to him throwing things about. You handle things differently and I understand, but I won't lie. It did hurt a bit."

"I bit you," he says incredulously, not believing that I am not so upset after our argument. I have been bitten before and it doesn't frighten me, but it will be some time before I can let him get anywhere close to my neck.

"I know, but you were hurting," I say and he sighs while looking away, tapping the glass with his ring before coming towards me and the bed dips as he sits on the edge of the bed in front of me. "You don't have to apologize." I smirk at him and he chuckles before meeting my eyes.

"I wasn't planning to," he says and I roll my eyes at him dramatically.

"That's surprising," I say sarcastically and I notice something's still bothering him by the way he turns his head to look down at the bed. "What's wrong?"

"You're quite perceptive," he says raising his head to meet my eyes with a smirk.

"You don't have to remind me," I say as he hands me the glass of water that was on the nightstand, which I hadn't noticed before and I give him a grateful smile.

"Are you going to call Klaus?" he asks, his face downtrodden, even if it's hidden by his mask of indifference.

I frown at him, holding the glass in one hand while the other is on top of my stomach. "Why do you think I should?"

"I bit you," he says. "I just thought that you'd call him to get you after what happened."

I chuckle because he clearly expects me to be angry or disgusted by him at any given moment. "I'm not gonna call Nik to come get me and dagger you. What happened will stay between us and we'll deal with it."

He smirks softly. "You're staying?"

"Yes and we're certainly going well than my first days with Nik," he says, his grin growing at my comment.

I smile and go to take a sip from my water, but I sigh before saying, "I will warn you not to do it again."

He nods. "I won't."

"You give me your word?" I ask him. "I won't stay to be a blood bag or a punching bag."

"You have my word," he says, his face portraying how serious he's taking this.

"Good," I whisper as I place the glass of water back on the nightstand. "I would also appreciate it if you would stop comparing me to _her_."

He closes his eyes as he releases a deep breath. "That will have to take some time."

"Why do you hate her so much?" I ask as he opens his eyes, causing me to stifle a gasp at the raw pain in them that he covers up the moment I manage to see it. "What did she do to you?"

He smiles bitterly. "Let's just say that she turned out to be worse than her sister and Tatia put both my brothers against each other, mind you."

"Still, she hurt you and you can't seem to get over it," I say, trying to get him to tell me what happened between him and Jen.

He sighs and I notice this topic is causing him to be uncomfortable. "To sum it up, she's the first woman I loved, the first woman I kissed, the first woman I proposed to and the last." He keeps his eyes on mine a bit longer before clearing his throat and looking away. "She's also the woman whom I gifted that necklace to."

I look down at the necklace that I never remove, fingering it. "My mother gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday."

"I gave it to Jen as a promise of us having a future together," he says, which surprises me how open he's being, but I decide to not push him further.

Suddenly, my stomach churns violently once more and I lean over on the edge of the bed and puke some more blood while Kol rubs my back comfortingly. I sigh with a smile on my lips, enjoying the warm feeling his hand on my back gives me, even though I still haven't forgotten what he did last night.

"Here," he says as I sit against the headboard while he grabs the glass of water I left on the nightstand, handing it over to me. I take it and drink the whole glass in one gulp. "Is there anything else I can do to get you better?"

I shake my head. "I just need to wait until I'm done getting it out of my body. You don't need to fuss over me; I've been through this before. You'd think I'd be used to it by the amount of times that it's happened to me before."

"You'll tell me when you need anything, darling," he says softly and I nod with a smile, loving how his pet name for me comes out of his mouth in his accent.

"I will…I promise."

"Good," he says as he lifts his hand and places it on my cheek, stroking it as its warmth passes onto me, making my cheek burn in a pleasant way.

I smile at him while he offers me the smallest of smiles that is enough for me to become warm inside because it is an honest smile; it's the first one I have ever seen on him that is so wide. I slowly place a hand over the one he has on my cheek, not knowing how he may react. Once my hand is on top of his, his eyes narrow a bit and he stops stroking my cheek, his face appearing to be confused while I lightly stroke his knuckles, loving the smoothness of his skin. I enjoy most the way his eyes lock onto mine, noticing the relief and regret in them, but I see relief more than the other. I couldn't help but feel warm all over and it almost makes me tear up a bit because it has been so long since I have felt anything at all. I can only ever feel this warmth when he's near me or touching me and I absolutely love it.

His phone rings, causing him to blink before retrieving his hand from my cheek while the hand I had over his drops on my stomach. He takes it out of his pocket and checks the screen, to which he rolls his eyes at before answering. "Hello, Nik." I cover my mouth, ready to puke and Kol stands up, walking out of the room since Klaus will hear me and nothing good will come out of it. I puke some blood as low as possible, coughing a bit and spitting remnants of blood into the bucket.

I sit up as Kol enters the room with his phone still to his ear. "What is it?" I ask, almost out of breath, even if I didn't need to breathe.

"He insists on saying his greetings," Kol says and hands me his phone, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

"Hello?" I say after putting the phone to my ear.

"_Hello, Cat,_" he says and I know he's grinning.

"Hey, Mouse," I greet with a smile gracing my lips. "How's it going over there?"

"_Oh, you know, the usual,_" he says, "_Salvatores and their little minions planning our untimely deaths at every given opportunity._"

I frown as a thought comes to my mind. "Nik, how did your brother die?" Kol perks up at this.

"He was staked with a white oak stake," he says and I chuckle without mirth while Kol's eyebrows rise in confusion.

"They have white oak?" I ask, worried for him and his siblings.

"Do they still have white oak?" Kol asks Klaus.

"_No, Stefan traded the stakes for his brother's survival,_" he says. "_Rebekah did a number on the poor man._"

Kol chuckles at this. "I wonder what he did to get Bekah's temper flaring; maybe he left her before she woke up."

"Well, I don't want to know," I counter, which is warning enough for Klaus, who is chuckling. I don't want to even imagine what Damon must've done as I stare at Kol's suggestive look.

"Always dampening the mood, dear Gwen," Kol says with a smirk and I roll my eyes at him.

"I can dampen it further," I say and his lips tighten together in silent anger since he knew I am referring to telling Klaus of what happened last night, but I am not going to do that.

"_Well, it's good to hear from you, Cat,_" Klaus says and I smile, missing him terribly. "_Put Kol back on._"

"Okay," I say. "Be good, Mouse."

"_I always am,_" he says and I scoff before handing the phone back to Kol, who leaves the room just as I puke out some blood into the bucket.

A couple of minutes later, Kol returns as he puts his phone in his pocket. "How are you feeling?" he asks and sits on the edge of the bed.

"Better," I say. "I just need to rest. When I don't puke in over an hour, I'll know that it has passed."

"Well, I'm meeting up with Jeremy in a while," he says. "Do you need anything?"

I shake my head with a smile. "No, I'm fine. Where are you going?"

"To some batting cages," he says and I chuckle, causing him to frown at me. "What?"

"You play baseball?" I ask.

"I've been familiarized with the sport," he says with a proud grin. "I rather like it and I am an excellent player."

"I've never played it," I say and his eyes widen in indignation.

"Never?" he asks and I shrug. "We're going to have to fix that," he says and looks me over before meeting my eyes once more. "When you're better." I nod with a smile. "Well, I need to get going."

"Good luck and try not to rip his head off if he turns out to be like his sister," I say and he chuckles.

"I'll try," he says as he goes to reach out to my cheek once more, but pauses when he recognizes what he is about to do while I keep smiling at him. His smile drops and his lips are now a thin line of seriousness. He clears his throat as he retrieves his hand. "I'll return soon."

"Take your time," I say as he stands up and leaves the room.

I wait for him to leave the room before releasing a sigh, puking a bit more blood into the bucket before sitting up straight. I lean back against the headboard and close my eyes in frustration, opening them as I stare at nothing in particular. Call me stupid for even trying, but I don't understand Kol. One moment he's kind and playful and I see that in his eyes, but then he's distant, recoiling back from me.

I don't even know why it's bothering me so much. Well, I do know, but I just can't fathom when or how it happened. At least I'm sure that I'm developing feelings for the Original vampire that tried to kill me when we first met. I haven't even spent that much time with him and I don't even want to think about parting ways. And he most surely hates me and all because of his tragic love affair with Jen.

We don't even know much about each other. All I know is that he's Klaus' younger brother. He is the wild Mikaelson that does as he wants. He's possessive, violent, menacing and unpredictable, but he's shown to be kind and caring in few moments, but I don't know if they are real since he did say that he's waiting for me to slip up so that he can kill me. But then he gives me smiles and he's charming and playful and plain _infuriating_. I have also come to enjoy the youngest Mikaelson, bordering on liking him, which I have no problem with. But he is a vampire and an Original at that, which means that they aren't supposed to feel.

I sigh and lie down on my side with my head close to the edge for whenever I puke. I prop myself up on an elbow before puking into the bucket, noticing it's halfway to be half full since it's not that big of a bucket. I lie back down on my side with a hand bent to support my head. I close my eyes with a sigh, hoping to get answers to my feelings in the near future.

* * *

I take a deep breath and open my eyes when I hear a door being closed. I sit up and stretch my limbs, hearing footsteps walk around the room; Kol must've come back. I rub the remaining exhaustion out of my eyes before standing up, my stomach finally having calmed down after a couple more vomits I did after Kol left earlier. I notice the darkening sky through one of the gaps of the curtains before standing up and walking out of the bedroom.

I walk over to the doorway and chuckle when I see Kol looking rather domesticated in the kitchen with some bags on the counter that are next to the stove. My chuckling causes him to turn around and smirk when our eyes meet.

"Liking what you're gazing at?" he asks with his ever present smirk, to which I roll my eyes at.

"Don't get cocky, you're still on probation after trying to kill me twice," I say while pointing an accusatory finger at him, to which he groans in annoyance.

"I thought we worked through that, darling," he says as I approach him, taking out food from the hotel that Kol must've ordered.

"Don't 'darling' me," I say as I look around, trying to find what I'm looking for through the many cupboards. "I'm not one of those blonde girls that'll swoon at your very accent."

"You like my accent?" he asks me with a grin as he takes the food, which appears to be two plates of chicken salad.

"It's bearable," I say with a shrug, grinning when I find what I was searching for. "Do you want tea?"

"Sure," he says as he grabs the food and goes over to the living room. "I brought some food. I was going to bring pasta, but it is Friday and I wasn't going to bite you and ruin your tradition in less than twenty-four hours."

I smile at the thought and begin making tea. "Thank you. Did you have fun today?" I ask as I grab two mugs without turning to see Kol.

He scoffs. "Don't remind me."

I frown. "What happened?"

"The boy could barely hit a ball," he says as pour the tea into two mugs, grabbing them and walking over to Kol. I put a mug next to the single plate on the coffee table since he holds the other one in his hand while eating.

"He couldn't have been that bad," I say and Kol chuckles as I bend my legs under me, turning my body to face his as he leans back into the couch while eating.

"You should have seen him," he says as he angrily picks the food with the fork and shoves it in his mouth, causing me to chuckle at how childish he looks. "He even said that he played it when he was younger; he's a bloody liar!"

I chuckle at his aggravated look. "Not everyone is made for the sport."

"Well, they should know before they embarrass themselves and shame the game with their idiotic pride of even believing for a second that they're good at the sport," he rants, to which I try to hold in my laughter as he takes a sip from my tea. "This is some pretty neat tea."

"Thank you," I say. "You love baseball that much?"

"It's the first sport I ever got into, every other is pointless to me," he says and I frown.

"What about soccer?" I ask and he scrunches up his face, showing he doesn't like the sport. "You can't say that you don't like it."

"Oh, yeah, I like to watch people kick around a ball, going from goalie to goalie, only to have one of them score at the _very end_ of the game," he says sarcastically, causing me to scowl at him. "And that is if they even manage to score…ever."

"Soccer is the best sport to ever be invented," I say, proud of the game of soccer, this is the game that my family and I loved.

"Basketball is better than soccer," he says and I scoff indignantly.

"Yeah, kicking a ball is boring, but watching men bounce a ball, pushing at one another and calling a stupid foul every second is fun to watch," I counter with my own sarcasm.

He opens his mouth to retort, but thinks better of it before nodding. "I'll give you that one."

"Do you want to hear what I think about baseball?" I ask him and he narrows his eyes at me.

"Don't you dare," he says and I smirk at him.

"I agree that a soccer game can be long, which is the exciting thing of it because you never know what might happen, but so is baseball," I say and he snorts.

"Baseball takes great concentration and coordination to even stand the correct way to hit a ball," he says and it's my time to snort.

"Soccer has you be bombarded with people that are trying to get the ball from you and you can only use anything that isn't your hands," I counter. "You need strategy, reflexes and everything in between."

"You need excellent eyesight and endurance," he says and I know this isn't going anywhere.

"You know, let's agree to disagree," I suggest. "I don't think we'll ever agree on anything in this topic."

"Have you ever even played soccer?" he asks and I scoff indignantly.

"I played in my school's team for four years straight, buddy," I defend myself while he raises his hands in surrender.

"Yeah, let's just agree to disagree," he says, knowing that we'll never get anywhere in this topic, ever.

"Well, we can get you oriented with the movies of this century," I say as pick up the remote from the coffee table, turning on the TV. I browse the choices the TV has to offer and a grin appears on my face at a certain movie featuring sparkling vampires. "Hey, Kol?"

"Hmm?" he hums as he continues to eat.

"Do you want to see a vampire movie?" I ask. I remember how Klaus reacted to the movie that I never liked, except for the books, but I would love to see Kol's reaction.

* * *

**Well, that is that, guys! I must say that this was my most difficult chapter to have written so far, so bear with me if it's a bit off, but I do like how it turned out. Send me your thoughts on a review or Pm and never forget to Fave or Follow if you wish to.**

**See ya later!**


	23. Chapter 22

**Well, here is to one of my longest chapters! I was going to divide it into two, but I couldn't find the right time to do so and I didn't feel like it. Well, there are some juicy scenes between Gwen and Kol ahead, so be prepared. I hope you guys enjoy it and thanks for the reviews and the love you guys give!**

**Remember, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 22**

* * *

I honestly hate my life at this moment. I don't know what I did to deserve this kind of punishment; it's unfair and idiotic. There was a time when I worried about much simpler and non-torturous things, which I missed more than ever at the moment. I had classes, games to attend with my team, a home to help take care of, the responsibility of being an older sister and just be happy. This _thing_, on the other hand, is not something I would've predicted or even enjoyed.

"I hate this," I grumble with my arms crossed over my chest and a pout on my lips. "I don't know why I should even bother, Kol."

"Because this is what we were tasked to do as a favor for Nik," he says, walking around the hotel room while getting dressed for tonight. "He asked us to watch over the Gilbert boy, I planned to befriend him to not look suspicious while keeping an eye on him and this is just part of the charade."

"But why do I have to go? He's not my fake-friend," I ask him with a huff, sitting down on the armrest of the couch with my legs crossed.

"Because I told him we'd pick him up and head for the party and—as his 'friend'—I promised him we'd go," he says, straightening the gray shirt he is wearing with a pair of black pants and boots.

I frown. "Why 'we'?"

He turns to me with a smirk. "Because I want you to come and you _will_ come. Besides, he already expects to meet you and I am not going alone with him."

"I don't even have a costume," I say before snorting while he goes into the bathroom. "I can't even change into one because I can't get out of these clothes."

Today, I am wearing my usual white, tank top with light gray, cropped leggings and cream, cardy ugg boots. Over my tank top, I wear a cream, tie-waist, sweater cardigan with a hood and long sleeves. I have my necklace around my neck and my hair is in a messy bun with strands falling out if it.

I frown as I watch him enter the living room after having styled his hair like he had it when he was daggered, making me wonder what he was dressing as. "What are you even dressing as?"

"I, my dear Gwen, am going as," Kol begins, staring at me and stops speaking to add a bit of suspense, "a vampire."

I had to laugh at his irony. "Really?"

"Yes. Ironic, isn't it?" he asks and he wiggles his eyebrows at me while I shake my head at him with a smile. "And I am a more credible vampire than that hideous thing you made me watch. For that, you owe me huge, my darling."

I roll my eyes at his complaining, which hasn't stopped after I made him watch the first and second movie of the Twilight Saga. "It's just a movie, Kol."

"Well, it greatly shows the horrific creativity of humans," he says as he puts on his black, leather jacket. "I do enjoy the earlier centuries. You know, when authors wrote literature the way that it's supposed to be written; not about disgracing vampires by making us look like bloody fairies."

"You are never going to live this down, aren't you?" I ask him and he gives me a look that says that he won't. "We still have to see the third and fourth movies." He gives me a dark look and I couldn't help but chuckle at him. "We'll take baby steps."

"It won't be necessary because I won't be watching anymore of that poor excuse of entertainment," he says and stands a few feet in front of me, showing off how he's dressed. "How do I look?"

I hum as I stand up, _inspecting_ his form, _not_ gazing. "I think a bit of blood on the shirt would be fine and you need fangs."

He nods and pulls back the sleeve of his jacket to reveal his wrist. He grins at me before his vampire features manifest and bites into his wrist, smearing a bit of blood on the corner of his mouth before letting some of it drop on the front of his shirt. I couldn't help but sigh at his vampiric features, for they didn't frighten me but they actually made him quite attractive. Well, he already is attractive without them. He keeps his fangs elongated, but his eyes return to normal.

"How 'bout now, darling?" he asks and I give him a thumbs up with a smile, receiving a cocky look from him. "How are you going to dress?"

I groan in annoyance. "I don't want to go."

"You made me go through hell with those disastrous movies," he says, pointing an accusatory finger at me. "It's time to pay the piper."

"I don't even know how to dress, Kol," I argue. "I can't take off these clothes. I could try to alter them as best as I can like the dress I wore at the ball, but I won't be able to keep it up for long; I'm still a bit worn out after being sick."

He cocks his head to the side, sighing as he contemplates what to do with my dilemma before approaching me, causing me to freeze at his closeness and my stomach flips around. He softly grins down at me as he encircles his arms around my waist and places them on my lower back. His eyes lock onto mine, keeping me in place, but I only become tense under his touch, which he notices with a frown. I momentarily remember his hands gripping me painfully to him, but I shake my head to get the memory out of my head as he hides his frown with a grin.

His hands begin to inch upwards ever so slowly while I sigh at his warmth before he grabs the hood of my cardigan and pulls it over my head. He snakes his hands into my hood, my skin burning where his skin came in contact with mine. He releases my hair from its bun, letting it cascade freely around my neck while my stomach churns pleasantly and my breath catches.

"There," he says, satisfied with his work as I smile up at him after having composed myself.

"What am I supposed to be dressed as, Kol?" I ask him and he hums once more, looking me up and down with a grin.

"You're a ghost," he says and I chuckle. "An extremely ravishing and delicious ghost, might I add."

I cock an eyebrow at him, showing that I am _not_ amused. "So, let me get this straight," I say and he keeps his eyes on mine while smirking, like always. "We're going to a Halloween party with Jeremy…dressed as the things that we actually are?"

"Obviously," he says and I shake my head at him. "It wasn't always called Halloween, did you know that?" I tilt my head to the side, waiting for him to continue. "This holiday was known by many other names in earlier centuries."

"Really?" I ask, intrigued.

"Its origin dates back to a Celtic celebration known as Samhain before it spread out to all corners of the world. It's also known as All Hallow's Eve, All Hallow's Evening and many other titles. Its original intention was to prepare for winter," he says, licking his lips, to which I blush when I see him doing it. "The first ones to worship this holiday believed that on this day the dead would come back to wreak havoc, so they dressed like the dead to appease their ire."

"The dead already come back to wreak havoc whenever they can," I say. "Look at me."

"There's a difference, my darling," he says and a pleasant shiver runs down my spine at his term of endearment for me. "The dead that came back were evil spirits."

"You don't believe I'm an evil spirit?" I ask him and he knows that I'm talking about Jen and his constant thing to comparing me to her. He sighs before taking a piece of my hair and tugging on it.

"No," he says, releasing my hair before giving me his second honest smile, which is not a big one, but I will cherish it, for it is beautiful and true, which leads me to believe that he doesn't hate me like I thought he did. "You're too kind and good for your own good." He smirks and I huff with a smile.

"Well, thank you," I say. "I think." I frown while he smirks.

"You are most welcome," he says and offers me his elbow. "Shall we go, then?"

I smile. "We shall," I say, grabbing his elbow with both of my hands, making sure to be visible. He gathers the key to our room and grabs the car keys before leaving the hotel room. "Kol, I think it's best for you refer to me by another name when we're with Jeremy."

He frowns at me as we make our way towards the elevator. "Why?"

"Well, knowing how fast news travels in Mystic Falls," I begin, "he may recognize my name."

"Oh, yes. I also gave him a fake name," he says and I frown at him.

"What name did you give him?" I ask him.

"Nathan Johnson," he says and I raise an eyebrow at him in question at how he got such a name. He notices my look and chuckles. "It's the name of some 'snack' I ate from a bar."

"Oh," I manage to say since I had nothing else to comment on it.

"What shall I call you?" he asks, pushing the button for the elevator to pick us up.

"I don't know," I say with a shrug as the elevator's doors open and we go inside. "How about Weny Grayson?"

He nods slightly. "It sounds good."

I frown at his tone of voice. "You don't seem to like it. Rebekah calls me Weny and a friend of mine's last name is Grayson."

"I said it was good and you have a friend?"

"Your face says otherwise and she's a witch living in Chicago."

"It's just a name to cover our real ones," he says and I nod grudgingly. "But I do like it." This makes a small smile appear on my lips. "Now, let's get this night over with and I also have to meet this friend of yours."

"No, I don't think so," I say with a shake of my head.

The doors of the elevator open to the floor of the parking lot since Kol preferred to park the car on his own without leaving it in the hands of a valet. I take a deep breath and mentally prepare myself for whatever tonight has to throw at us.

* * *

"Hello, I'm Weny Grayson," I greet Jeremy Gilbert, turning in my seat after he got in the car and sat in the backseat. He seems ecstatic by the convertible since Kol had opened the roof and I am just glad it doesn't appear like it will rain.

Kol and I had come to pick up Jeremy after Kol had a 'small snack' on the way over. It is already past dusk and I know that this may be a long night. To be honest, I hate parties. They're just a place where people seem to have a good time, but how can they have a good time if they don't remember it the morning after because they drank too much.

"Jeremy Gilbert," he says and I shake his hand with a smile, noticing the small frown that appears on his face, but he seems to discard whatever came to his mind as I settle back in my seat. "You didn't tell me your girlfriend was this pretty, Nate." I frown at what he referred to me as and I snap my head towards Kol, who is wearing a huge smirk on his face as he rides down the road to wherever the party is and I narrow my eyes at him.

"I know, but I was trying to be modest," Kol says, I frown at his accent that is more American while he kept smirking, which seems like it's not coming off his face anytime soon. "She's a beauty though, isn't she?" He looks to me with his irritating smirk while I keep my thoughts in check, not wanting to snap at Kol in front of Jeremy.

"Yeah," I hear Jeremy say. "You a vampire, man?" he asks Kol while I keep still at Kol's label on me, which is not true.

"Yeah, Weny likes vampires, but not the pathetic ones that sparkle," he practically growls, giving me a small glare. "She likes the ones that are more _credible_."

"She made you watch 'Twilight'?" Jeremy asks, sensing the knowing grin on the Gilbert boy's face and I huff.

"It was hell," says Kol. "I honestly don't know why she likes them. They're weak-looking vampires. I bet I can break one without much effort; they are made of glass." Jeremy chuckles at this while Kol grins.

"I don't like them, I just wanted to see your reaction," I argue. "It was funny to watch you suffer."

"You're evil," Kol tells me and I smile at him.

"And you adore me," I counter, causing him to chuckle.

"Don't push your luck," Kol counters and Jeremy groans.

"You're both gross," says Jeremy. "I feel like a third wheel."

"Trust me, Jeremy," I begin, "you're not."

"What are you dressed as, bud?" Kol asks Jeremy.

"Your worst enemy," Jeremy answers, his tone serious and I freeze at his words. "I'm a vampire hunter. I even bought one of those plastic stakes from a cheap store."

"Nice," Kol says giving me a knowing look while I sigh, not liking the costume Jeremy chose.

"What about you, Weny?" Jeremy asks me and I roll my eyes, knowing that he won't be able to guess.

"Well, I went with ghost," I say, raising my hands and bowing my head as if presenting myself, "even though I don't look like it."

"No, no. It looks great," Jeremy says. "You look like a modern ghost."

"Actually, _Nate_ was the one who came up with the idea," I say, getting a grin from Kol. "I didn't even want to come."

"Well, good thing you came," says Jeremy. "The more, the merrier."

* * *

The ride to where the party was short since it was near the area where Jeremy lived. It took us no more than twenty minutes to arrive to the house with multiple cars parked on the street, next to the walkway and music is muffled by the closed doors of the house where the party is being held. I could see that the many colorful lights that were visible through the closed curtains of the windows. It was a two-story house like the ones around in the block.

Kol parks the car a couple of cars down from the house, next to the walkway and pulls on the roof. He and Jeremy get out and I go to follow, but find my door being opened and Kol offering me his hand with a small grin while I smile up at him in amusement at his gesture, which I did find endearing.

"Well, aren't you the gentleman," I say as I take his hand, letting him pull me out of the car, pressing me up against his front before closing the door of the car behind me. I could feel his breath fan over my skin as he keeps me in place with his hands on my hips and my hands on his chest while our noses almost brush against one another.

"I have years of experience," he whispers to me and I shake my head at him before turning to Jeremy with my hand being held by Kol's, which causes my stomach to flip and not in the bad way it was doing when I had Kol's blood in me.

"Well, let's have fun tonight," Jeremy says, taking out the plastic stake from his jacket as he stands to my right while Kol stands to my left as we make our way up the steps to the front door of the house.

"I hope," I say. "I don't have very good experience with parties."

"Me neither," Jeremy says and I turn to him with a questioning frown. "But I'm not gonna let it stop me from having fun." He smiles at me and I smile back as we stand in front of the front door.

Jeremy knocks on the door and it is opened seconds later by a very tipsy teenager, who is wearing some werewolf costume. He seems to know Jeremy since they greet with a hug and they both laugh while Kol smiles politely—a fake gesture if you know him well enough—and I offer a small smile, stepping inside the house and the door is closed behind us. I scrunch up my nose at the amount of alcohol and sweat in the air while music blares throughout the home.

The house is bustling with teenagers that are either dancing or drinking or doing ridiculous things that I don't even bother to look at. I notice many lust-filled eyes turning to Kol and some towards me, but I shake my head and ignore them. I feel Kol's body almost pressing up behind me as he lets go of my hand to hold my shoulders.

"This is a party?" asks Kol, his head next to mine since the music is quite loud and I almost didn't hear him.

"Welcome to the Modern Age," I say with a mocking smile while I gesture around with my hand.

"Well, at least it's more lively and moving," Kol says, grabbing my hand before pulling me to where Jeremy is grabbing a drink from a table filled with snacks, cups, drinks and many other things. "What do we have for drinks?"

"Well, almost about everything," Jeremy says as he offers me a drink but I raise my hand to stop him.

"I'd rather not have a single drop of alcohol," I lie, but I also didn't feel like drinking something I won't feel. "One of us has to keep an eye on the other two."

"I have water," Jeremy says as he motions to his drink. "I'm still underage and I'd prefer to avoid a hangover."

"Well, it's a decent enough party," I say as I look around at the many laughing faces that say they're having a good time. "So, do you have a sweetheart, Jeremy?"

"Nah," he says, a bit dejected. "I did, but it didn't work out."

"I do like the chase a stubborn woman can give." He wiggles his brows at me and I look at Jeremy while rolling my eyes at Kol.

"She gave you trouble?" Jeremy asks Kol.

"She was a bit difficult, but my looks won over her stubbornness," Kol says as smug as ever.

"That or I just took pity on him. You decide which the truth is," I tease, earning a chuckle from Jeremy and Kol gave me a playful glare that I counter with a wide smile before turning back to Jeremy. "I will admit that he is a smooth charmer."

"I can imagine," Jeremy says, taking a sip from his cup. "I'm gonna meet up with a friend, you guys gonna be all right on your own?"

"We'll be just fine," Kol says as he snakes his arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his side and I enjoy the feel of his body against mine with his warmth spreading over to me. Jeremy nods before disappearing into the crowd. "Now, what do you feel like doing, darling?" His accent turns back to British and I smile at it as he turns to me, pulling me flush against his chest and eliciting a gasp of surprise from me.

I meet his eyes and shrug. "I don't know. Like I said, I don't have good experience with these types of parties. I rather prefer a ball or a party that Nik would organize. How do you that?"

"What?" he asks with a frown.

"Change accents," I clarify.

"It's fairly easy when you've spent a thousand years in different countries. I just mastered the anatomy of my throat," he says and I chuckle as my cheeks redden at our close proximity with my hands on his chest and his arms on my waist, holding me close to him as I watch his eyes go over me. "You're sure you don't want a drink?" He retrieves a hand from my waist and takes a cup from the table, which is probably filled with an alcoholic beverage.

"Nah," I say, still feeling tingly because of his body so close to mine and his other hand that is still around my waist. He shrugs before taking a sip from his cup, grimacing at it after he took the sip.

"This is weak," he says as he sniffs the drink and I chuckle at his face.

"It's a drink from the Modern Age, what were you expecting?" I ask as he finishes the drink in one gulp, not even flinching at the amount of alcohol he poured down his throat.

"A bit of more creativity," he says, discarding the cup on the table as a half-drunken boy and a sober girl approach us, to which Kol tightens his grip around my waist, which I assume is out of caution since he's eyeing them warily.

The couple had their arms over their shoulders. The boy seems to be tipsy, but the girl seems to be holding her own. He was dressed as Spider-Man, but didn't have the mask on. He had short, brown hair that is slicked to the side and thick glasses. The girl is dressed in a cheerleader costume with her red hair in two high ponytails.

"I know what you two are," the cheerleader says as she looks at me and Kol while the boy dressed as Spider-Man frowns at her before grabbing a cup from the table.

"Really?" Kol asks her with a grin.

"Yeah, you're the characters from that British show that I love," the cheerleader says, clearly fascinated by our supposed costumes. "You're missing the werewolf." I frown at her, not knowing what she's talking about. "I'm just dying for your characters to get together." The boy tugs at her shoulder and she smiles at us. "Nice meeting you, have a good night." She and the boy leave us before Kol and I share an amused look.

"That was interesting," says Kol. "What show were they talking about?"

"I have no idea," I say, deciding to find out later about the show they were talking about.

Kol looks over at the dance floor that must've been a spacious living room and a mischievous grin appears on his lips. "Do you feel like dancing, darling?"

"Nope," I answer quickly. "I am not dancing like that." I point at the many couples grinding against one another, except for the few that are actually dancing with their partners or on their own with a friend on their side.

Some of the more daring couples were grinding front-to-front while others were front-to-back with the girl giving her back to the boy. That type of dancing isn't really my style and it's certainly not one that my parents would approve of. _Besides, I found it a bit disgusting,_ I think without the intention to insult any of the couples, but it's what I think.

"Not like that, obviously," he says as he frowns at the people that are dancing. "I do have class." He grabs my hand and bows his head at me. "May I have the honor of this dance, my darling?"

I make small curtsy. "Yes you may, Mr. Mikaelson," I say and he leads us to the dance floor, near to the edge since it looks too tight to go into the crowd as a new and upbeat song comes on.

He twirls me before taking one of my hands in his and the other is on my waist while I put my free hand on his shoulder. He begins to dance us to the upbeat song, twirling me from now and then and bringing me back to him while laughing. It surprises me how fast he caught on to the swaying of the music, to which I smile. Kol and I aren't sweating like the rest of the people dancing, but that didn't mean that it wasn't hot—well, for me it is.

"Having fun in your first party after a century or so?" I ask as I smile up at him before he twirls us both.

"I am," he says, grinning down at me. "But, it's a bit odd having a party in such a small house."

"Not everyone has a mansion like Klaus," I say.

"Give me a break, darling," he says. "I missed out on a whole century and the changes are drastic. Men are still men," he says and I chuckle. "Women wear less, which I have no problem with." I shake my head at him. "And music did make a turn for the better; more like my style."

"Well, you missed out on a very great decade," I say as our eyes meet. "The dances, the music—especially the jazz—and everything was just _alive_. I can teach you some of it that I know."

"I'll hold you to that promise," he says, grinning. "I do hope there are _private_ dance lessons to go along with it."

"I thought you had class," I say, smiling up at him.

"Oh, I do," he says while grinning down at me. "Are you having fun?"

I nod. "Yeah." _Especially since it's with you._

We both have our eyes locked while I smile and he grins. He twirls me once more, but, unlike the other times, my back ends up pressed against his chest. My breath catches as his face hovers next to mine. He keeps our hands interlocked; one to our side and the other on my waist. I know that he's grinning and I remain still in his arms, enjoying our bodies pressed together.

Suddenly, he releases my hands and grabs my waist. I yelp when he lifts me up from the floor and throws me in the air. I close my eyes, waiting to hit the ground, but feel arms under my knees and behind my shoulders. I open my eyes and laugh when I see it's Kol who is holding me.

"Now, what clever thing you have to say to that?" he asks and I chuckle as he sets me down on my feet.

"I have nothing," I say as we stand in front of one another.

He gasps dramatically and I roll my eyes at him. "It's a miracle, ladies and gentlemen." I playfully smack him in the arm and he holds it, faking he's hurt. "You wound me, darling."

"Aren't you a comedian?" I say and he chuckles. He reaches behind my head and pulls over my hood on my head, which must've fallen when he threw me in the air, to which we both freeze on the spot as we take into account at how close our faces really are.

My hands grip the front of his shirt while his hold my shoulders as he frowns at me and I keep still, not moving an inch. I manage to breathe calmly as my feelings dance wildly within me, which makes me lose any type of control as I watch Kol leaning closer to me. I grip his shirt tighter, not really knowing what to do, for I didn't really want to pull away and I really want to see what he's going to do. Suddenly, I am pushed from behind and my lips crash against his awkwardly as we stare at one another with frowning eyes. He merely closes his eyes and a hand leaves one of my tense shoulders to hold the back of my head while my eyes close as I relax against him.

I am bombarded with this huge wave of warmth that courses throughout my body as my lips mold against Kol's. Then I question what I am doing right now, pulling away from Kol's lips and meeting his gaze in confusion, not really knowing what we're doing by kissing. Kol's eyes show the same confusion in them as he lowers his arms to his sides while I loosen my grip on his shirt. Neither of us knows what to say as we stand in front of one another with our eyes locked.

"Hey, Nate," Jeremy says as he approaches us at the same time that Kol had opened his mouth to tell me something.

"Hey, man," Kol says, changing his British accent back to the American accent and I clear my throat while my lips burn from the kiss as an aftereffect.

"Come on," Jeremy says as he nudges his head to the back of the house. "I want you guys to meet some of my friends."

"Sure," Kol says and I really don't feel like meeting others.

"You go ahead," I say to Kol and he frowns at me.

"Are you all right?" he asks me and I'm surprised that he's concerned for me before menacing at whatever is the threat.

"Yeah, I just want to find a quieter place for a while," I say. "I'll go to the bathroom upstairs and find you after I'm done."

He nods before he turns and follows Jeremy into the crowd. I smile at his retreating back before making my way towards the stairs, ignoring the lust-filled looks of some of the boys and the criticizing ones of some of the women. I go up the stairs, few teenagers just standing in the steps as they look out to the party. I come up into a hallway with the light dimmed.

I walk slowly and notice some of the doors are closed. I decide to ignore the sounds behind them, knowing _exactly_ what's going on behind them by the rocking noises of beds or other furniture and the pleasurable sounds that I manage to hear. I really don't want to even imagine what I know what's going on behind them so I continue down the hall, managing to find a bathroom and closing the door behind me.

I turn on the light and sigh as I get a bit dizzy from the change in atmosphere; from roaring teenagers filled with so many emotions and blaring music to the silence of the fairly spacious bathroom, the noise of the party muffled as I stand inside this bathroom. I look around and I notice the bathroom is white clean and, like I said, spacious, which leads me to believe the family that lives here earns a lot of money; apart from the fact that the neighborhood had seemed to be for people who are financially well.

I stand in front of the sink and turn it on, putting my hands under the water. I sigh with a smile, for this is of the few things that I can actually feel, even though I don't get wet. I may get into a pool, but I come back out without a single drop of water on me. I still enjoy the feel of the water against my skin. I shut off the water and my hands are still dry.

I look up and stare at myself in the mirror, looking like the nineteen year old young woman I was when I died and became frozen in this age. I'm now twenty-five and I still look like nineteen. I've been dead for six years and I have not gone under any physical change. It sometimes bothers me of this, but I adapted to being a ghost rather well, which is a good thing, or so says Klaus. I blink a few times and decide to not think about the kiss or think too much of it since it was an accident, even though Kol and I responded to it.

I sigh and turn away from the sink, opening the bathroom door and turning off the light before stepping out. I turn to where I came from and begin going down. I am suddenly thrown against the wall harshly. I open my eyes, expecting to see a drunken Kol, craving for my blood, but I am met with a brunette teenager boy with red-rimmed eyes and his breath is exhaling breath filled with alcohol. He has my arms pinned to my sides and I glare at him.

"Let go of me," I say with a hard look.

"You a pertty one," he slurs and I groan in disgust while scrunching up my nose.

"You're drunk and I don't want to give you a worse hangover than you're going to get in the morning, so _let me go_," I say the last part through clenched teeth, not in the mood to be harassed by some boy with so many sounds already blaring in my ears.

"Wan' know wha' a man I am, pertty girl," he says into my face and I turn my head to the side, knowing that I would puke if I was alive. Out of nowhere, he grabs my breasts, causing me to gasp as he presses himself on me, to which I struggle against him and I begin to panic as I punch his chest.

I begin to pant in my panic and close my eyes to calm down, not wanting to risk taking the house down. I whimper when his lips attach themselves to my neck, preferring it to be Kol, even if it is to feed on me. _Not the right moment, Gwen,_ I scold myself, ignoring his hands going over my sides.

"Get off!" I yell and manage to push him back into the other wall with my power, seeing him fall limp on the floor. I cover my gasp with my hands over my mouth, hoping he isn't dead. The way his arm and legs are didn't help my distress, but I sigh in relief when I don't feel the cold hand of death go through my body and I see his back rising and falling with every breath he takes.

I lean back against the wall with my hands still covering my mouth, calming myself as I sit on the floor. I could feel the tears of fear that want to escape my eyes, but I manage to keep them in place as I take shaky breaths and my body trembles, which is a balanced aftereffect after having him pressing onto me and the too close call of me almost killing him.

I gulp down my shakiness and stand up, making my way down the hall in hurried steps. I go through the crowd, pushing people out of my way as I look around for Kol, wanting to go back to the hotel room above all else and curl up somewhere. I manage to find him leaning on the doorway that seems to lead to the backyard, a dark-haired girl leaning opposite to Kol.

I don't care that I interrupt his chance of a midnight 'snack' or having his way with her as I make my way over to him. I tug at his hand, causing him to turn to me with a frown. His eyes narrow at the distressed look that must be on my face and I hold back the tears that want to spill out of my eyes as his attention goes from the girl to me; the dark-haired girl forgotten.

"Gwen?" he asks, his accent returning and I bury myself in his chest, my hands gripping onto his shirt and not being able to stop my body from shaking as his hands wrap around my shoulders and waist. I sigh in relief at the comfort that his mere presence gives me. "Gwen, what happened?" His head is close to my ear since I feel his lips next to it.

"I want to go," I manage to choke out and his grip tightens around me. "I just want to go."

"All right," he says, pushing me away a bit and bending down to be eye level with me. "We're going. I'll take you to the car first and come back for Jeremy, all right?" I nod and he smiles at me, to which I smile back.

He puts an arm around my shoulders, leading me to the front of the house. I could feel the anger and confusion radiating off of him. I decide to explain later and let him take me back to the hotel, wanting to put this night behind me. We exit the house and walk to the car. He opens the door for me and I sit down while he crouches in front of me.

"What happened, Gwen?" he asks and I shake my head. "Gwen, tell me now."

"Let's just go, Kol," I whisper, looking down at my hands as I wring my wrists at his hard tone.

"Who?" asks Kol and I take in a shaky breath, refusing to meet his eyes, which must be enraged. "Gwen, tell me who or everyone at that party is going to die."

I snap my head to him with wide eyes. "What?"

"He touched you, didn't he?" he snarls. "I can smell that human on you. Tell me who it was and everyone else lives."

"Please, Kol, let's go," I say. "Besides, I took care of him. He's not dead, but I took care of it."

He sighs angrily before standing up. "Someone's going to pay for even daring to even _think_ about touching you and I don't know who. I'll be asking and I'll kill everyone I ask until I find him."

"Kol, don't," I say as he starts to go back to the party and I stand up, running after him and not imagining the potential slaughter that might happen. "Kol, stop," I plead as I manage to stand in his way, causing him to stop on his tracks while glaring at me. "Please." I continue to pant as his glare softens a bit and I manage to see the turmoil in his eyes, not knowing what to do. "Give me this one thing I am asking of you or I'll stop you; you know I can."

He releases a deep sigh while glaring at me. "I'll go find Jeremy," he says before going around me and walking towards the house. I sigh and lean back my head with my eyes closed, wishing to forget this night as goosebumps go through my skin.

* * *

I sit on the couch, hugging my legs to my chest and my chin between my knees. My clothes reverted back to the usual look as I brood, which is what I am technically doing. It was past midnight when we left the party, Jeremy and Kol conversing while I had simply stared out the window. After we dropped off Jeremy, it was silent on the way to the hotel and on the way to the room.

I am glad Kol didn't kill anyone and I am almost sure he hates me for that. Kol had gone straight to the room after we arrived, closing the door behind him while I sat on the couch. He only came out to get a few blood bags from the fridge after changing into more comfortable clothes and went back to the room, not bothering to even glance at me.

I could still feel the ghost of that boy's hands on me and I couldn't help but cringe. Kol didn't ask what happened after we left, which surprised me. I didn't want to be alone and I needed the comfort of someone being next to me. Klaus did this whenever I felt like I didn't want to be alone and I did it without asking him, for he never objected. But this is Kol, and it's different by miles apart; he's unpredictable and it's exhilarating because I have reason to wait in anticipation for what might happen. Like he compares me to Jen, I compare him to Klaus and it's not right.

I sigh before standing up, walking to the door that leads into the bedroom where Kol is. I take a deep breath and knock on it, hoping that he's willing to let me stay in the room, for I really need to be with someone to rid me of the nightmare that was tonight, except for the pleasant feeling that Kol's lips brought within me.

"You can come in," I hear Kol say and I go through the door. I enter and notice his eyes are closed while lying on his back with an arm on his forehead and the other on his stomach. "What do you need?" He sounds distant and I almost go back out, but I really need the comfort he gave me back at the party. It felt like I could actually feel something after so long and I am yearning for it.

"Kol, I know that you may be upset," I begin, wringing my wrists and his eyes open before they meet mine, his eyes were not giving away anything and that worried me, "but I was hoping not to be alone tonight."

"Get in here," he says with a small grin on his lips. I offer a small smile before sighing, appearing next to him on the bed and on my side, staring at his amused look. "I'm getting used to that."

"Get back to me on that when I sneak up on you," I say and he chuckles before removing his arm from his forehead and placing it on the bed, turning his head to look at me.

"And she returns with that sharp tongue of hers," he says and I chuckle softly.

We stare at one another for some seconds, my heart beating at its usual pace but ramming hard against my ribcage while my stomach flips. He stretches his arm over my head, inviting me to lie closer to him and I smile before moving closer to him, laying my head on his chest and placing my hand on his stomach. His arm that was stretched out over my head is now on my arm, stroking me with his thumb while the other came to rest on the top of the one I had on his stomach.

"I'm sorry," I whisper and his thumb stops stroking for some seconds before they continue stroking my arm.

"For what?" he asks and I could hear the confusion in his voice.

"For stopping you from slaughtering them, but I'm proud I managed to do it," I say and he chuckles.

"Well, you did give me a compelling offer," he says.

"I really wanted to leave and I didn't want you to kill," I say.

"Why don't you like it when someone is killed near you?" he asks. "I know that you wear your humanity on your shoulder, but, given the fact that you've been with Klaus for so long, it makes me wonder how you have managed to stay with him."

I sigh. "It doesn't matter if the person is murdered or dies of natural causes, I will still feel their deaths. I feel their fear as they die and it's unbearable to relive that." My head rises with Kol's chest when he sighs deeply. "He...he came onto me. I knocked him out." His chest rises once more, telling me he sighed in anger and I could feel it radiating off of him.

"Rest for tonight," he whispers, telling me to force myself to sleep and I am not going to object. I snuggle closer to him and close my eyes, willing my body into sleep as I feel Kol's thumb stroke my arm, which is the last thing I know of before falling asleep, hoping for a better tomorrow.

* * *

**That is that. Phew! A lot of heat on this chapter with these two. Well, share your thoughts with me, especially with this chapter that I enjoyed writing, don't hold back. Review, Fave or Follow if you want.**

**Also, I will extend an imaginary sundae or any type of your favorite dessert to those who can guess which 'show' I made a reference to! Good luck and I hope you enjoyed.**

**Well, see ya later!**


	24. Chapter 23

**Another chapter! Woohoo! I hope you guys enjoyed the last and congratulations to those who guessed the show I was referring to, for it was 'Being Human'. Yay for you guys!**

**Also, I want to say thanks for your support in your reviews, I enjoy reading your thoughts and opinions.**

**And, remember, I own nothing of the Vampire Diaries, except for the obvious. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 23**

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"Are you sure he invited me?" I ask Kol for what seems to be the hundredth time, causing him to groan in annoyance, but I am more annoyed at the moment. "I'm horrible at this, Kol. You knew this and you still accepted my invitation for me without checking with me first."

The sun is high and bright. There are very few clouds in the bright blue sky. Kol and I are currently getting out of the car at some place where Jeremy invited us to come and have some fun at the batting cages, which is not fun for me. I also notice the ice cream stand that is near the entrance of the batting cages, but not too close since I doubt there is food allowed in the inner areas of the place.

"He asked if you wanted to come and I said that you'd love to," he says as we walk out of the parking lot of some park with many areas to play different sports. "Besides, he said we'd swing a few before we leave to do something else since they'll be closing soon enough. I am also going to need you to restrain me if he continues to shame baseball or Nik won't have any more leverage."

"It's only a game," I mutter and he scoffs.

"Do I need to express _my_ feelings about that thing you consider a sport?" he threatens with a smirk on his face, referring to soccer and I glare at him, to which he laughs.

"Going back to topic," I say and he smirks victoriously. "Won't he suspect something when he sees the similarities between my 'alleged' costume and my regular clothes?" I ask him, motioning at my usual clothes as we stop before arriving to the batting cages.

"I don't think he'll notice," Kol says with pursed lips while looking me up and down, and I tilt my head at him in annoyance. "Humans don't usually pay much attention to those things."

I sigh in frustration, rubbing my temples with my index fingers to calm myself. "Fine," I exhale and he grins at me in victory. "But I'm getting an ice cream before suffering in there and we better leave quickly."

"Fine," he says with an air of victory, taking his wallet out and giving me more than enough money to buy ice cream. "Enjoy your cold delicacy."

"I will," I say after I snatch the money from his hand with my lips in a thin line; I only really want some time alone before going in there to fail miserably at baseball and suffer Kol's teasing. "I'll meet you inside."

"Good," he says before he places a quick and chaste kiss on my cheek before he goes over to the batting cages; Kol going to meet up with Jeremy while I am to go to the ice cream stand. I stand frozen, feeling my cheek heat up from where he placed his lips on my skin. I reach up and touch the area with my fingertips, smiling and probably looking like a lovesick teenager.

We haven't actually spoken about last night and the kiss we shared, which is something that fell into a silent agreement that we made to talk about it when the right moment comes and it has not, which has let me thinking about what we are to one another. This has caused great turmoil and frustration within me, which is currently stressing me out. I really do feel grateful we haven't talked about it since I don't feel like I am ready for it, especially if there is rejection involved. I take in air and release it into a deep sigh, turning away from such thoughts for the moment.

I approach the dark-skinned man that is wearing a white and yellow uniform with a white hat on his head; he appears to be in his thirties. "Hello," I greet as I stand in front of the ice cream stand, looking down at the three containers where the ice cream is.

"Hello, miss," he greets with a polite smile that I return. "What can I do for you?"

"Do you have coco?" I ask and he nods.

"Yes, we do," he says. "Will that be what you want?"

"Yes," I say. "I'll have it in a cone."

"All right," he says and he prepares my ice cream. He hands it to me and I give him the twenty dollar bill that Kol gave me. He accepts and begins counting money to give me change.

"Keep the change," I tell him and he smiles gratefully while nodding.

"Thank you, miss," he says and I smile at him before turning to walk to the batting cages while licking my ice cream. I go to round the corner to enter the batting cages, but I stop in my tracks when I get a glimpse of familiar faces.

I take a step back behind the corner and stay silent. My breath catches when Damon passes me while holding Elena close to his side and Jeremy follows behind them, looking quite shaken. I sigh when they round another corner, leaving my line of sight and frown, wondering where Kol is. This time, I round the corner and enter the area where the batting cages are, dropping my ice cream when I see Kol lying on the floor facedown with a stake through his middle.

I run over to him and kneel beside his limp form. I go to touch him, but I hesitate, not knowing how to help him. _Calm down, Gwen,_ I tell myself. _First things first, remove the stake._

I grab his shoulders and roll him to his side, making sure he stays that way. I scrunch up my nose at Kol's blood, disliking having to touch it. I grab the half of the makeshift stake that is in his back, pushing it in without really looking at it since I dislike even touching the makeshift stake. After pushing it a bit more, I stand up and go around him, pulling it out with a grunt and falling back on my bottom. I take deep breaths and drop the broken bat that was used as a stake next to me, seeing the blood on my hands begin to disappear from my skin, disappearing like a mist would.

I look around and I'm glad no one's around since it must be closing time or something and it gives Kol time to wake up and think of a plan. I honestly did not see Elena and Damon coming to Denver to see Jeremy. Damon must've caught Kol by surprise since he managed to take down an Original. Surprise or no, Kol is sure to get back at Damon sooner or later; I find that people are never lucky after they manage to one-up an Original.

I worry that Kol is taking too long to wake up and that Elena, Damon and Jeremy might be quite far by now, which is not going to be good news for Klaus. I honestly don't know what possesses me to even think about this, but I follow my instinct, knowing that it'll be all right; I think it will be. I crawl over to Kol's head and lay him on his back, placing his head on my lap. I look down at his gray skin with his veins pronounced on his skin, appearing to be dead like any other vampire would be in a situation like this, but that is not the case.

I stroke his cheek, his face upside-down to my perspective as I trace his grayed skin with my fingertips. I reach over to the broken, wooden bat and take a deep breath. I hesitate as I place the sharp tip on my wrist. I hold my breath before looking away as I make a cut on my wrist, sighing loudly and dropping the broken bat. I grab Kol under his armpits and pull him up a bit to have him leaning on me, his head tucked under my chin.

"Here you go, Kol," I whisper as I place my open wrist to his lips, my skin getting warm as it comes in contact with his lips, but I push those feelings away. I manage to open his mouth so it closes around the wound on my wrist, which causes me to feel warm all over. I wait for a bit and then I feel my blood being sucked on. "Kol?" I stroke his hair with my free hand, noticing his skin getting its color back.

His hands come up to my arm and keep my wrist to his mouth. I feel a sharp pain and whimper into his hair as his teeth break my skin, feeding on my blood. I stop stroking his hair, but keep my hand in it, placing my chin on top of his head, waiting for him to finish as I take in his intoxicating scent.

"Kol?" I say, beginning to feel dizzy and he detaches his fangs from my skin with a sigh of relief, or maybe of pleasure. I pant softly as he sits up with a groan before turning to me while I watch as my wrist begins to heal.

"Gwen?" he asks and I look up at his confused eyes with a small smile.

"Feeling better?" I ask him and he shakes his head, getting rid of whatever seems to be bothering him.

"I'm surprised at my control," he says with a grin and I roll my eyes at him. His eyes then turn serious, looking around the area; most likely looking for Damon, Elena and Jeremy.

"They're gone," I answer the question in his eyes and he turns to me with a frown. "I saw them leaving and came in to find you staked."

"That Salvatore's dead," he growls as he stands up, picking up the broken bat and the aluminum bat in one hand, to which I frown but decide not to question. "Let's go," he says as he offers me a hand and I take it, needing him pull me up to my feet and I almost lose balance in my dizziness from the loss of blood. "You all right, darling?" I nod as I lean on his side.

"Yeah, I just need to wait for my body to replenish the blood that you drank," I say and he nods, keeping an arm around my waist for support while keeping me tucked against his side before we exit the place.

* * *

"Call, Nik. Tell him that Salvatore and Petrova took Jeremy and left," Kol says as he gives me his phone when we get into our hotel room and he drops the bats on the kitchen counter. He takes his jacket and shirt off before going to the bathroom.

I ignore Kol's bare torso and concentrate on dialing Klaus. I put the phone to my ear and wait for Klaus to pick up. "_Little brother,_" I hear Klaus greet after the third ring.

"Hey, Mouse," I greet, sitting on the couch as I hear the shower going, which means Kol's taking a shower.

"_Hello, Cat,_" he greets and I smile at his voice.

"We ran into a bit of a problem," I say, knowing that he will not be pleased with the news I have for him.

"_What do you mean? Are you all right?_"

"I'm fine, but Elena and Damon appeared out of nowhere and took Jeremy with them."

I hear him sigh. "_They must be using the boy to figure out which bloodline they belong to._"

I frown. "Bloodline?"

"_It's the line of vampires and those by whom they have been sired. Every vampire belongs to a bloodline; my siblings and I are the originators of our own respective bloodlines. So when an Original dies..._"

"Then every vampire that descends from the Original dies along with them," I say, understanding the whole bloodline business, not having expected that.

"_Exactly,_" he says. "_Damon is trying to find out from which line he is descended from to know which Original to kill, which is the same one that Caroline, Stefan and Katerina belong to._"

"It's yours without a doubt," I say and he chuckles. "It's very tragic if they hope that they won't belong to your bloodline."

"_Better keep it a secret, Cat._"

"Obviously," I say with a roll of my eyes, feeling a bit insulted by his joke. "I'm not a snitch."

"What do you want us to do about it, Nik?" Kol asks as he enters the living room in fresh clothes, sitting down next to me. "If they find out that they belong to your bloodline that leaves me, Rebekah and Elijah as targets."

"_Which is why I am going to tell you where they are going to try and seek out this information, but you are to silence it before they get it,_" says Klaus. "_They are surely using the Gilbert boy to talk to a vampire named Rose and she is going to tell them who sired her."_

"Who sired her?" I ask.

"_She was sired by Mary Porter,_" says Klaus.

Kol chuckles and I frown at him. "Naughty Mary," Kol says as he continues to chuckle.

"_Yes, that one,_" says Klaus, chuckling a bit. "_Kill her and stop her before she divulges the information to the idiot that is Damon Salvatore._"

"With pleasure," Kol says with a smirk. "It's been quite a while since I last saw Mary. She was always following us and worshiping the ground we walked on."

"I don't even want to know," I say, ignoring the smirk that Kol must be giving me. "Where is she, Nik?"

"_I'll text you the address,_" he says, not surprised that he knows where she is since he keep his eyes on people that deserve to take up his time. "_Don't kill Elena Gilbert and I am warning both of you. I don't need to express the clever ways to make you both suffer if she dies._"

"Yes, Nik," Kol and I say in unison, our voices filled with irritation.

"I really don't know why you insist on making hybrids," I say, not elaborating since Kol's here and I am not talking about Klaus' insecurities in front of him. "I find them pointless, even though you save the werewolves from the unimaginable pain they go through once a month."

"_That's your opinion and I am not even going to take it under consideration,_" Klaus says and I huff.

The phone is snatched out of my hands and Kol puts it to my ear. "Send us Mary's address and we'll handle everything over here." He hangs up and we both recline back on the couch.

"What now?" I ask.

"We wait for the address," Kol says and I nod. "You let me feed from you," he says and I turn my head to find him frowning at me. "Why?"

"Because you needed it," I say. "I didn't want you to stay dead in the middle of some batting cages. I also knew it would heal you faster and less painful."

He nods and I know he's telling me he's grateful in his own way. His phone rings a short tune, which must be the one for messages since it is very short. He looks down at it and opens the message, reading the contents that most surely contain the address to Mary's location that Klaus must've sent to us. I am not surprised at how fast Klaus got it.

"Is that the address?" I ask and he nods.

"Time to go hunting," he says with a lopsided grin.

* * *

"This is it?" I ask as I stare at the two-story house with wary eyes while I hug myself, disliking the gloomy atmosphere it has.

I now wear my usual clothes, except that my cardigan is now a cream, twist-front sweater with three-quarter sleeves. Kol has the aluminum bat in one hand and the broken, wooden one in the other, probably to cause some damage. We are currently in Kansas, where Mary Porter is supposed to be living in this dark and gloomy house.

"It is," Kol says as he stands next to me, staring at the dark house that hides behind a few trees.

"Who is she?" I ask since I've never heard of her before.

"I never really knew her in the personal way," he says as he suggestively wiggles his eyebrows at me.

"Of course," I mutter with a small smile.

"She's very shallow in my opinion, always wanting to be a part of everything I or any of my siblings did and she was a bit incoherent," he says as he starts walking towards the house and I follow him. "She jumped between me and my brothers, even Rebekah."

My eyes widen at this revelation. "Really?"

"Oh, yeah," he says with a smirk. "But I wouldn't recommend her for any type of relationship, but I would if you wanted a wild girl by your side."

"She was that bad?" I ask as we stand on the doorstep.

"You have no idea, my darling," he says and he opens the front door, which was not locked, causing me to raise my eyebrows in surprise at the lack of security this woman has. "She wasn't that bright either." He steps into the dark house and I follow behind him. "Let's split up. Holler when you find her."

I nod at him before he goes through a hallway on silent feet while I go straight, walking carefully as I look around at the hoarded items, which varied from papers, books to many old portraits. The whole house seems to be lacking a lot of house cleaning and in need of being emptied of all these research that she has lying around the place, for it is cluttered and too dark for my liking.

I stop in front of a door and go through it, appearing to be in a bedroom, but it also has many papers and books scattered around. I perk up when I feel a presence behind me. I turn around and I am—once again—pinned to the wall by my neck. I manage to see who it is as my eyes adjust to the darkness of the room.

The woman has ginger-blonde, medium length, wavy hair that contrasted with her pale skin from lack of sunlight. I don't see a daylight ring, so I assume she can't go out in the daylight, which explains the darkness of the house. She appears to be an inch taller than me and her eyes are a shade of light blue. She wears a white, long nightgown as she glared at me.

"Who the hell are you?" she snarls at me and I notice she has a mixed accent. The only reason I am not doing anything is because I need Kol to handle her, I'd rather not take part in her death. "What are you doing in my house?"

She's suddenly pushed off of me by Kol. "Hands off, Mary," he tells her with a smirk as he stands in front of me before going to lean on the doorway of the room and placing the aluminum bat against the wall. He keeps his eyes on Mary, keeping track of her movements while I sigh.

Mary's eyes widen as she stares at Kol while I stand against the wall. "Kol Mikaelson," she greets with a seductive air about her, to which I glare at her. "It's been quite a while."

"Yes, it has," he says, smirking.

"What are you doing here?" she asks him, leaning on the opposite side of the doorway to Kol's.

"Can't I come and visit an old flame? I was un-daggered just recently," he tells her and I roll my eyes at their banter and sit on the edge of the bed in the room, which is also cluttered with items.

"Of course," Mary says and glances at me before frowning at her. "Who's she?"

Kol glances at me, still smirking and turns back to her with his head cocked. "You may say she's a companion and Niklaus' closest friend."

She snorts. "Klaus has a friend?"

"Yes, he does," I tell her through clenched teeth, not being able to hold my tongue with that comment.

"That's a surprise," she says, her eyes still on Kol, not even sparing me a glance.

"It is quite surprising," says Kol.

"I still don't understand why she's with you," Mary says as she eyes me, to which I scrunch up my nose in annoyance. "She's not human, which makes her a vampire and you don't seem to be in any _creative_ activities under the sheets, which is what we used to take part in," she says as she stands closer to Kol and I sigh in frustration.

"She's _only_ a companion," Kol insists, his words stinging a bit, but I know that he's doing to cover up whatever sentiment he has for me and I know that he has some. His pose never wavers as he and Mary have their faces inches away from one another, but not touching.

"Has the infamous Kol Mikaelson lost his touch? You do seem protective of her," she asks, grinning. "Where is that young Mikaelson that ravaged towns and enjoyed a good and bloody night out?" I fidget a bit uncomfortably at their conversation, wringing my wrists.

"I'm still the same, Mary," he says, his tone betraying how her words got to him, which I do notice by the slight furrowing of his brows.

"Then why are you infatuated with this girl?" she asks and I frown while he narrows his eyes at her. "I can see it in your eyes, Kol. She means something to you. You care about her and—as I last recall our last night together—you don't care about any type of sentiment."

"Why do you suddenly care about my personal life?" he asks her and I could see the anger building up in his face. "I didn't come here to share my opinions on my own life with you."

"Unlike your siblings, you were hard to read, but your eyes said everything," says Mary. "I like the murderous Kol; I just don't want you to lose your touch because of some girl. Feeling isn't supposed to be in a vampire's nature."

He smirks at her before grabbing her by her neck and slamming her on the wall that is opposite to the bed, raising her high above him while she struggles to get out of his grip. I widen my eyes in surprise, not getting used to Kol's outburst whenever he decides to be unpredictable and Mary seems to also be surprised by this.

"Kol," I say as I stand up, not really knowing what to do or say.

"You don't get to either objectify me or pretend to know me, Mary," Kol says as he talks calmly, but his tone is furious. "I am still the Kol Mikaelson that ravaged lands far and wide. The one that made others fear the very name of my family. Granted, my brothers also took part in it, but I am the one that even Niklaus can't control, not even with his putrid little daggers."

"I didn't mean offense, Kol," she chokes out and I perk up at the presence of others near the house. "You just seem so different, especially when you protected her from me. You've never done that before and I was just surprised." I can tell that she's really concerned by Kol's image, which strikes me odd, but Kol did say that she isn't someone that is quite coherent.

"What I do with my time and with whom I spend it with is my business," he snarls at her lowly.

"How can I make amends, my dear?" she asks, fear evident in her eyes as she looks down at Kol. "I'll do anything."

I frown at the sound of a door opening and I close the door to this bedroom, turning back to stand near a chair in the corner of the room while Kol still holds Mary up against the wall, his eyes furious and unrelenting, which frighten me a bit. Mary's words seem to have had some effect on him and I didn't know how.

"And you shall," he says as he takes the broken, wooden back from his jacket and rams it into her chest, eliciting a crashing sound. This causes her to gasp for air while her skin turns gray and veins protrude all over her skin while I took a sharp intake of breath at the small sting in my chest where Mary was staked, feeling the familiar cold hand of death on my spine.

Kol steps back as Mary's body falls limp, the bat in her chest holding her up against the wall in his anger, not even appearing to fall off the wall with her weight since Kol drove it pretty hard into her that it stuck to the wall. I stare worriedly at Kol's change in demeanor as he grabs the aluminum bat and sits down on a chair in the corner of the room, glaring at Mary's corpse while resting his bat on his shoulder.

The door to the room is opened and light shines around the room from an object since the light is small. The light manages to avoid shining on me or Kol. I see Damon enter first before Elena follows behind him. The light of Elena's phone lands on Mary's corpse as they both stand in front of her and I hear a gasp coming from Elena.

"Mary," Damon whispers.

"Quite contrary," Kol says before turning on a lamp, causing Damon and Elena to turn to us, their eyes saying they didn't expect us to be here.

"Hello, Elena," I greet her without much enthusiasm after what happened with Mary, knowing that Kol is quite angry, which is not good.

"Gwen," Damon greets me with a smirk as Kol stands up.

"Damon," I greet with my lips in a thin line as Kol walks around them to stand between them and where Mary is against the wall with the bat in her chest, but Damon and Elena follow him with their eyes with Damon standing in front of Elena, ready to protect her from any danger.

"Shame about Mary," Kol says as he faces Damon and Elena while the latter give me their backs. "She used to be a blast. I don't quite know what happened." He smirks at Damon and Elena. "I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her." He glances at Mary's corpse before turning back to Damon and Elena. "She was a bit of an Original groupie."

"And were you her favorite?" Elena asks, not being so good at being subtle.

"You mean, if he turned her?" I ask and Elena glances at me with wary eyes. "I seem to have forgotten."

"I think I did," Kol says mockingly and Elena turns back to him. "But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. Let's not forget the Elijah affair. I spoke to my brother," he says, turning serious for a second before his smirk returns. "I know you're trying to find out who you descended from." He raises the aluminum bat as he stands in front of Damon. "Now you never will. So…" he says as he hits the tip of the bat on the floor as if preparing to swing a ball, "where did we leave off?"

Suddenly, Kol uses his supernatural strength and speed to hit Damon's leg, causing the latter to grunt in pain before falling on the floor while Elena and I flinch when we hear bone breaking. Kol does it again and hits Damon's hand that he was using to keep off the ground, making it bend unnaturally and causing Damon to fall flat on his face. He hit Damon again on his back rather hard and I heard the sound of bone breaking once more.

"Elena," Damon says, struggling to get the air into his lungs to use his voice, "get out of here."

Elena runs to the door, but Kol blurs in front her with a glare. "According to my brother, you're off limits. Please don't test me." He grabs Elena's head and pushes her on the bed, causing her to groan as she hits the headboard with her head with a small wound on her forehead.

Damon manages to blur on his feet and grab Kol by his neck with a menacing look. "Don't touch her," Damon warns, but Kol only headbutts him, and Damon falls all the way to lie on his stomach below Mary's corpse.

"Oh, dear," Kol says as he approaches Damon. "I've hit a nerve." He chuckles while I stare at him warily, knowing that he isn't in a good mood and I'll have to deal with it back in the hotel room. "Relax, darling. I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck. You killed my brother. And then you humiliated me." Kol's voice turns darker as he lists off the wrongs Damon did to him before Kol slams the bat hard on Damon's back three times, causing Damon to grunt in pain while Elena and I flinch at every hit; one for each wrong. "There. Now we're even."

Kol turns away from Damon and leaves the room, not even glancing at me or Elena. I leave the room and follow behind him, his steps long and hurried so I have to hurry mine to keep up with him.

* * *

Due to Kol's driving, which was a bit too fast for my liking, we arrived at the hotel in hours with the air tense between us. We enter our room and Kol drops the car keys on the kitchen counter before removing his jacket and throwing it on the back of the couch. He goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of whiskey while I wring my wrist, knowing that I had to say something.

"Kol?" I say and he only takes a swig from the bottle before leaning on the counter, looking at the bottle. "Kol."

"What?" he snaps before taking another swig of the bottle.

"Are you okay?" I ask him and he chuckles mirthlessly.

"I really don't understand why you ask such a thing," he says as he leaves the bottle on the counter. "Why do you even care?" His gaze meets mine, empty of emotion and I know he's wearing the mask that vampires wear when they want to be devoid of emotion.

"Because we're-"

"What? Friends? Lovers?" he says with a dark smirk that I didn't like at all. "We're not, dear Gwen. And we're most surely not sweethearts, if you think the kiss meant anything at all." I sigh at that pet name since he used it when he didn't seem to like me very much, ignoring how his words sting.

"Don't do that," I plead with him. "Don't shut me or your emotions out."

He laughs darkly. "You believe I actually let you in, or that I even had any semblance of emotions while being with you?"

"Yes," I say confidently, not tearing my gaze from his dark one. "You let Mary's words affect you and you want to prove to yourself that she was wrong, but this isn't the way."

"She was wrong," he says. "I haven't changed."

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"I only brought you with me because I wanted to annoy Nik; a little vengeance for him daggering me for over a bloody century," he says and I frown at how hurtful his words really are as he approaches me with a smirk. "You served your purpose and even helped me adapt to this century, foolishly believing I was being your friend or anything remotely close to the word."

Suddenly, I'm brought back to my younger years in school; to a time when I was alone and only wanted friendship, even though I sound like a hypocrite. I only wanted one that was worthwhile because I believe that those are the ones that really mean something; a friendship that would last and not just pass. Now, Kol's gestures and kind actions were thrown at my face, revealing a man who only wanted to hurt me, and I hate the fact that he succeeded.

"You just brought me along to get a rise out of Nik?" I ask him as I feel my eyes water a bit, not wanting to believe his words. "I don't believe that. I don't believe you pretended everything that we shared."

"You didn't think I would actually be interested in you, did you?" he asks and I don't find it in me to answer since he practically threw my feelings in my face, to which he laughs. "You're either too naïve or too dumb to have believed everything that happened between us." His face was now inches from mine and it showed the dark mirth in his features. "I could never be interested in a woman who wears the face of the whore that caused me too much problems to last me an eternity."

"I'm not _her_," I ground out in anger as I hold back my tears.

"It's only a matter of time before history repeats itself, I'm just not going to be the recipient of it," he says and I release a breath I was holding when he pulls back, but remains standing in front of me while my chest tightens painfully. "You were just a means to an end. And I did want to kill you the moment we left Mystic Falls, but I wanted to see how long this little experiment would last. Now, I find it better to just tell you the ugly truth; well, ugly to you."

"You're lying," I choke out through the tears that want to escape me at this raw pain in my chest as he turns around to grab the bottle of whiskey. I just need to get through to him. "I know that you felt something when you asked me to come with you. I _do_ feel something for you, Kol, even after everything. You're just not used to feeling and it frightens you that I mean _something_ to you after not feeling for so long."

"You mean _nothing_ to me, dear Gwen. You mean less to me than Jen ever did," he says and I couldn't help but let the tears fall from my eyes at these words, these words did the trick. "You're no more than a-" I disappear from the room before he can even finish his sentence as I pant, appearing outside of the hotel, invisible to the few humans walking around me while tears stream down my cheeks.

I hold my stomach—my feelings having crashed down in it and it wouldn't stop turning in pain—with one hand over it while covering my mouth to muffle my sobs with the other, not wanting to believe everything that Kol said. I notice many light posts' light flicker, knowing that my emotions are the cause of it, which are causing my powers to be erratic, but I keep a hold on it. I sniff as I take a deep breath to calm down, but I only sob more.

I look around and find a phone booth on the other side of the street, the area almost empty because of the time. I appear in front of the phone booth and enter it, closing the door behind me. I pick up the phone and make my hand go through where the quarters are to be inserted, grabbing one from inside and taking it out before inserting it. I take a deep and calming breath before dialing Klaus' number, hoping that he'll pick up.

"_Whoever you are, you better have a bloody good reason to be calling at this hour,_" he answers after the fifth ring, his voice sounding groggy from sleep and I sigh in relief that he picked up.

"Mouse?" I say, my voice cracking a bit but I keep it in check.

"_Gwen?_" he asks and his tone is more alert and concerned.

"It's me. Can you find a way to get me back to Mystic Falls?" I ask, not wanting to explain anything.

"_What happened, Gwen?_" he asks and I almost sob, but I hold it in.

"Please, Nik. I just want to go back," I plead.

"_What did my idiot for a brother do?_" he growls.

"Can we just talk when I get back?" I ask. "I'll tell you everything you want to know."

He didn't respond, but I could still hear him breathing, contemplating what he should do. "_Fine. Go to an airport and call from there, I'll make the arrangements._"

"Okay," I say, sniffing. "I'll see you soon." I sigh as I hang up, releasing a sob before managing to compose myself.

I exit the phone booth and stand on the edge of the walkway, making sure I'm visible as I flank a cab, but it passes by me, causing me to frown. I look down at my hands and gasp as I watch them begin to disappear.

"What's happening?" I ask myself as I turn around and stand in front of a display window, seeing my reflection. "Oh, no. No, no, no."

I look all over myself and see myself disappearing into nothing, looking like smoke as it disperses. I panic as I continue to disappear, fearing that it's my time and not wanting it to be, not like this. I sob as almost my entire body is gone from view, not feeling the parts that have disappeared.

I panic. I look around, not knowing what to do or what is even happening to me as I am almost gone. I take one more breath before darkness consumes my vision.

* * *

**Cliffhanger! I don't like them but I couldn't resist and I had no choice. What do you think will Happen now? Where did she go? And whatever other questions you might ask in a time like this.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and do share your thoughts about it, they inspire me and make me update a lot faster than I intend to.**

**Well, Review and whatnot, love you guys and see ya later!**


	25. Chapter 24

**Here is the next chapter for you all to enjoy! Now you find out what happened to Gwen after the last chapter's cliffhanger. If you thought I killed her, well, I didn't. I am not so cruel. Also, thanks for the support and I am glad that you guys enjoy the story.**

**Well, remember, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me. Enjoy!**

**By the way, Happy Halloween to any who are celebrating!**

* * *

**Chapter 24**

* * *

I groan with my eyes shut, my muscles are tense and everything else is sore. I could feel my throat burning like my eyes, even though they're closed. The stinging on my skin grows worse as if acid was being sprayed on my skin. I manage to open my eyes and fight through the grogginess that hangs over my body. I then remember what happened with Kol, which only makes my chest tighten in pain. I am only glad that it is sunny outside by the way light streams into the place I'm in, but it only serves to make me panic.

I frown when I notice I'm in some old mausoleum, which means that I must be in a cemetery, but I don't know where. I use the stone wall to carefully stand on my weak and shaky feet, looking around the place and noticing a stone-carved table in the middle of the room with a metal bowl and a stake on it. I also feel weak and heavy, to which I frown as I cough a bit since my throat continues to be sore and burning; the burning more intense than the soreness. I clear my throat, trying to push away the burning but it does the opposite.

I turn my head when I hear the door of the room open, to which I freeze perfectly still when I see Esther enter with a human man behind her, the same human that had daggered Kol in the Mystic Grill on the night I left Mystic Falls. While Esther gives me a smile, the human man has a cold and collected face as he closes the door behind him.

"Good, you're awake," Esther says as she looks at me from the other side of the stone-carved table.

I frown. "Esther? You're here?" _Where is here?_

"Yes, I have returned to finish my work," she says as she rounds the table, standing next to me while I stare at her with wary eyes.

"How am I here?" I ask, wanting some answers before I disappear from this place to find Nik.

"I brought you here," she answers, to which I frown since she seems to be implying that she used magic.

"It cannot have been through magic," I say. "Magic doesn't work on me."

"Technically, I used magic on my children to bring you here. I used Niklaus' feelings for you as he slept and also from Rebekah's to find you and bring you here," she explains. "It wasn't easy. The spell was tricky, your presence fought to stay where you were." I glance at the human man and Esther notices my questioning look towards him. "This is Alaric; he'll be assisting me with my work."

I frown at her. "The vampire hunter?"

"Correct," she says and I look down at the items on the table, not liking the stake that is on it. "He'll be helping me with the destruction of my children."

I snap my head back to her. "No."

"You have no choice in the matter," she says. "You're powers are nullified by the salt I placed around this place and the portion I burned, which you bring into your system with every breath you take, not to mention the amount of iron around the area."

"You can't do this," I tell her and she gives me a small lopsided smile that reminds me a bit of Kol, causing me to remember when we were having dinner, but I shake off those memories.

"Yes, I can," she says and I glare at her.

"What is she doing here?" Alaric asks Esther, the latter turning to him as I feel my body weaken at the amount of salt around and in me, which explains why I was so sore and groggy earlier and I still am. It also explains why my skin seems to be on fire while my eyes and throat burn.

"Her ancestor's blood brought me back to life after my son killed me on this very ground we're standing on," she says and I frown at her. "It's the same blood that runs through her veins and the same one that I used to give my children life to complete their change into vampires. Her blood is priceless and beyond powerful, which is why I'll be in need of it. I need it to bind an object to the white oak to make it indestructible and for me to use to aid you."

Alaric's eyes turn to me. "Are you going to kill her too?"

I frown in fright at that. "No. I have found that no type of magic can kill her, not even the link she had with my children would have killed her if one of them died," Esther says and I frown at her since she intended for me to die when she linked me with her children. "She's protected from magic and me with power that I cannot fight, which I assume it has to do with her necklace but I am not sure. I do know that her heart is her weak point, but she needs to die after I am done perfecting you; her blood doesn't work if she's actually dead."

"Perfecting him?" I ask. "Perfecting him into what?"

"I'll need your ring," Esther says as she turns from me and faces Alaric with the items between them while I turn to watch them, groaning in pain as my vision blurs a bit.

"Now, why would I give you the one thing that protects me from death?" Alaric counters.

"I will give you all the protection you need," Esther explains. "However, the stake will burn up in the body of its first victim."

I frown at the stake. "Nik destroyed all the white oak stakes."

"Except for one," Esther tells me before turning back to Alaric. "If you are to kill all of my children, I will need to bind the protective magic in your ring to the stake, thus rendering the white oak indestructible." She extends her hand for Alaric to give her the ring.

Alaric takes the ring off and hesitates before he gives it to Esther. I frown and ask, "That's the ring?"

"The Gilbert ring; designed to cheat death when the bearer dies a supernatural death, but the bearer must be mortal and human for it to work," Esther explains before dropping the ring in the bowl. Esther closes her eyes, ready to use magic.

"Only a human can wear it," I mumble to myself.

"Vescaram Anta Intacurum, Vescalis Dissendis Divinitum! Ex Tutum Tatum, Dimentum Talos!" Esther grabs my hand harshly and takes a knife from her coat. I hiss when she makes a cut in my palm, leaving the knife on the table and keeping my wound over the cup for the blood to taint the ring. I take my hand back when her grip loosens and the cup catches on fire. I look down at my healing palm and then look into the cup, my eyes widening as the ring melts with my blood and turns into a silver liquid in the bowl. "Dox Toxem, Dox Malum! Dox Divinitum!" The moment Esther stops her chant, the fire is extinguished.

Esther picks up the stake around the pointy area, placing the other end in the bowl, swirling it around the silver liquid. I stare blankly and with wide eyes as all of the liquid attaches itself on the white oak stake. Esther presents it to Alaric as the silver liquid spreads all over the stake in the form of veins, but the silver is more prominent around the handle.

"The ultimate weapon for the ultimate hunter," Esther says as Alaric stares at the white oak stake with his face betraying no emotion, looking like a vampire with their emotions shut off. "Now," Esther says as she places the stake on the table, "I will retrieve the last ingredient to make you the ultimate hunter. Stay here, not that you have any other choice in the matter," Esther says as she looks to me before leaving the mausoleum.

I sigh and walk over to the stone wall, sliding down against it to sit on the ground with my back to the wall. I can't even think straight or come up with a plan, not that I can do much with the amount of salt in this place. I notice my clothes had changed to their usual style, to the ones I died in. Alaric inspects the items on the table and his eyes finally fall on me, but I do not strike any conversation with him.

"You're the ghost that everyone's talking about, huh?" he asks and I shrug.

"I wouldn't know," I say. "I didn't know I was that famous around here."

"What are you exactly?" he asks, clearly curious as to what I am as the light begins to leave the room, which means dusk isn't far away. _Come on, Nik, _I think to myself. _What's taking you so long to figure things out? You must know by now._

"Witches will tell you I'm…an abomination, even though…I didn't ask for this. They say I am to be wiped out of the face of the Earth because…I am between the living plane and the Other Side, which is…where I am supposed to be, or so I hear," I say, struggling between my panting. "Vampires will tell you I am a rare delicacy and humans don't even see me unless I allow it, but I'd rather be invisible. My blood does seem to attract them as well."

"What do you think?" he asks and I shrug.

"I think I have been given a chance to do something since there must be a reason for me to still be here, and I doubt it's for this," I say as I motion to the items on the table with my hand. "It's why I know that Esther will fail."

"I have no reason to kill you," he says and I chuckle at his words since Esther will only make him kill me. "My only targets are the vampires."

"That may be," I say as I lean my head back against the wall, trying to move as little as possible. "But Esther will have you kill me, even when you have no reason for it."

"You're just accepting your fate?" he asks with narrowed eyes.

"I have no power with the salt, it nullifies my powers and I find it pointless to fight against it, my body grows weaker with the amount of salt, so it's best not to tire myself out even further by pointlessly using my powers. And the iron can also be used to hurt me," I say before meeting his eyes. "Still, Esther still has to deal with a hybrid that has temper problems, which is one of your targets, apart from the other members of his dysfunctional family." That seems to have shut him up, his eyes portraying only anger before he exits the mausoleum.

* * *

I stand near the table, but I keep my distance from it, not liking to be anywhere that is near it with the darkness that looms over it, which means that Esther had to have used Dark magic to perform this spell. It surprises me how the spirits continue to be on her side, even after she uses Dark magic, which is supposed to be something they don't tolerate. I perk up and look to the closed doors of the mausoleum when I feel the presence of others outside.

The doors open and Esther enters with Alaric and Elena following behind her. I frown at the costume Elena's wearing, which looks like a flapper dress from the 1920s. They were years that Klaus loved and talked to me about with great passion that dripped from his voice. Thinking about him makes me feel useless since I can't stop Esther and he might die.

"Gwen?" Elena asks with a frown as she looks to me and I sigh.

"I'm not here voluntarily, Petrova," I say as Esther begins to light candles that are scattered around the mausoleum. "It appears we share a purpose in this spell of Esther's."

"Ric, this isn't what you want," Elena says as she and Alaric come to stand on opposite sides of the stone table. She meets Alaric's eyes as I come to stand between them. "It's not who you are." Her eyes look at Alaric, pleading him to listen.

"You don't know who I am, Elena," Alaric retorts. "You only know the weakest parts of me, the man who lost his way, befriending vampires instead of killing them."

"You don't mean that," Elena says, sounding like me when I was trying to get through Kol's mask of indifference.

"They're all monsters. The blood of their victims is on my hands," says Alaric. "Jenna's blood is on my hands."

"Can't you stop them?" Elena asks me and I shake my head.

"There's too much salt in and around me, my body only grows weaker with it around me," I tell her as Esther comes to stand next to Elena while I lean on the table a bit out of exhaustion.

"When you are ready," Esther tells Alaric as she reaches her hands out for him to take.

"No, Ric, please, don't," Elena begs him. "Don't do this." Alaric ignores her pleas as he takes Esther's hands and Esther appears to be mentally performing the spell. "I won't help you. I'm not gonna give you my blood. You're gonna have to kill me." I roll my eyes at her stupidity.

Esther turns to Elena with a calm look about her. "That won't be necessary."

Esther releases one of Alaric's hands and fists it in front of Elena, causing the latter to groan in pain as she holds her right hand to her chest. Elena looks at her hand in confusion and gasps in pain when she sees blood coming out of an incision. Esther grabs her wounded hand harshly and pours some of Elena's blood in the bowl before releasing her and Alaric's hands. Elena holds her hand close to her chest while glaring at Esther and she comes to stand next to me.

"Very brave or stupid of you to deny Esther of this," I whisper to her and she glares at me before turning back to Esther and Alaric, not liking the weak joke I made.

"Drink," Esther orders Alaric, referring to the blood in the bowl. "And let it be done." Alaric picks up the bowl. "You'll have to drink Gwen Pierson's blood after this to complete your transition."

"No, Ric, please, don't," Elena pleads once more, but Alaric drinks from the bowl. "No," Elena sighs as Alaric finishes drinking and puts the bowl back on the table while I stare at him warily.

"Is it finished?" he asks Esther as she quietly grabs the white oak stake. "Do I have to drink Gwen's blood?"

"Not just yet. After this," Esther says before staking him in the heart, causing him and Elena to gasp. I wince when I feel the small sting in my chest. We watch Alaric fall on the floor, dead. "Now, Miss Pierson, I will ask for you to cooperate."

I sigh and walk over to her, giving her my hand as she grabs the knife she used before. She makes a cut in my palm and I wince, letting my blood fill the bowl, enough for Alaric to drink after he awakens to finish his transition into the apparent perfect hunter that Esther wants him to be to kill her children.

"There," I say after retrieving my hand harshly from hers as my body feels weary; the scent of the salt is not helping me at all. "I hope you burn for the rest of your pathetic life." Esther seems shaken at my words, but ignores me.

While Elena removes the stake from Alaric's chest with a gasp with his head on her lap, I slide down the stone wall, groaning a bit in my weakened state as I manage to sit down. I can barely breathe right and I feel sore and singed while Esther stands near Elena and Alaric, looking down at them with little emotion in her eyes.

"He'll wake soon," Esther tells her and Elena looks up at her. "When he does, he may, for a time, be his old self. If so, you can say your goodbyes before his transition is complete." Esther gives Elena a napkin for her wounded palm while mine has already healed. Elena snatches it from Esther's hand with a glare directed at the witch.

"You said you wanted to undo the evil that you created, but this…" Elena says, her voice cracking, close to tears. "This is just as evil."

"Alaric will never be what my children became," Esther retorts and I chuckle, knowing that she prefers to believe she's doing right. "I have granted him enough power to complete his task. Then, when the time is right, he will die."

"How?" Elena asks while I frown since Esther created Alaric to be indestructible. "If he's immortal-"

"All you need to know is when this is over, we will have rid the Earth of vampires once and for all," says Esther.

"What about the souls of those that remain pure, even after becoming vampires?" I ask as Elena stands after gingerly placing Alaric's head on the floor.

"You'd be killing the good along with the bad," Elena says, adding to my argument.

"You'd be even worse than your children, even though it wasn't ever their fault that they became like this," I say as I take deep and shallow breaths. "In the end, their actions were human actions, not because they were monster from the beginning. You're the one at fault and I hope I'll be there when you get what you deserve after the suffering you've caused."

"Am I at fault?" Esther argues as she stands between me and Elena, glancing at us both but settling her gaze on Elena. "I desire a world where you and your loved ones will not suffer at the hands of vampires, like your aunt Jenna did." Esther then turns to me. "You will also cease to exist; dying like you should have to be at peace." I huff at her with a small shake of my head since her words are poison.

"Don't you dare use Jenna as an excuse for what you've done," Elena says and Esther turns to her.

"You may draw comfort knowing that your aunt is not in the place that I was," says Esther. "She doesn't know the torment of the other side. Though made a vampire, she remained pure. And she knows peace. Which is all any of us can hope for."

A twig breaks outside, grabbing the attention of the three of us and Esther turns to the entrance of the mausoleum. I only hope that it's Klaus as Esther exits the mausoleum. I frown, not being able to sense the presence that may be outside because of my weakened state. Elena walks over to me and kneels beside me.

"Can't you stop her?" she asks me and I chuckle. "There must be something you can do."

"Like I said, there's too much salt in this place," I tell her and she sighs in defeat. "I have no power. And even if I use it, it won't do much. She's already done what she wanted to do. We can only hope that she fails." I hear voices and Elena stands up, going outside as I hear the cocking of a gun.

I sigh in pain and see Alaric gasp for air, waking up to his undead life, being in transition. He frowns as he looks around, his eyes settling on me. I sigh in relief when I see they are not the cold ones from before, they are more human. I can also see the confusion and fear in them as he seems to panic.

"The stake," I tell him as I look at the stake next to him. He follows my eyes to the stake and picks it up. "They're in trouble outside." He nods at me before he stands up and goes outside with the stake in his hand. I take one more deep and burning breath before resting my eyes for a bit.

* * *

"Cat?" I open my eyes and scrunch up my nose at how blurry it is. I blink a few times and my vision adjusts, smiling when I see Klaus kneeling next to me. He's also wearing a white suit of the 1920s, to which I chuckle.

"Nice suit," I croak since my throat still burns and he smiles at me before stroking my hair out of my face, eliciting a hiss from me when he touched my stinging skin.

"We've been looking for you since last night," he says and I lean on his hand that is on my cheek, ignoring how it slightly burns.

"Esther channeled power and teleported me here," I say as I take deep and shallow breaths. "Where is here?" I frown as I look around the mausoleum.

"You're in the old cemetery of Mystic Falls," he says and I nod.

"Is she dead?" I ask him and he nods.

"I am so glad you're all right," he breaths, to which I smile. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"Die of boredom, most likely," I say and he chuckles. "Can we go?"

"Of course," he says as he places a hand under my knees and behind my back, picking me up and holding me close to his chest as he stands up while I wrap an arm around his neck, the other on my stomach and I lean my head on his left shoulder.

He goes to exit the mausoleum. "There's salt," I warn him since I won't be able to leave if the area is surrounded by salt.

"I took care of it," he says and I nod before I suddenly feel the wind hit my skin as I close my eyes in relief, knowing that Klaus is using his supernatural speed. I only enjoy how the wind disperses the burning feeling on my skin as if pouring cold water over me.

I open my eyes when I no longer feel the pressure of the wind against my skin and see that we're in front of his mansion. I smile at the sight, craving for a bed to rest on since I still feel too weak and sore from all the salt and iron around me. I sigh and lean my head on his shoulder

"Home, sweet home," I mumble and he chuckles before going up the steps as I hear the sound of a door opening, causing Klaus to stop in his tracks.

I frown at this and look to the front door of the mansion, my breath catching at what I am seeing. Standing there with crazed eyes filled with worry is Kol, to which I couldn't help but feel relieved as I stare at him with wide eyes in surprise.

"Kol?" I whisper and he grins softly at me.

"There's my Darling Lass," he says and I give him a small smile, knowing that it's him and not the emotionless vampire he pretended to be when he pushed me away in Denver.

"You didn't take long to arrive," Klaus says as he stares at Kol.

"I thought I'd help look for her," Kol says as he meets Klaus' hard eyes. "You did threaten to dagger me and I wasn't going to risk that happening any time soon. I'll take her." Kol approaches Klaus to grab me, but Klaus pulls back with a glare.

"It's your fault that our mother captured her," Klaus growls at Kol. "I don't trust you with her anymore than I trust our mother with her." I saw the flash of hurt in Kol's eyes, but he manages to hide it and I know I have to intervene now before anything escalates.

"Nik," I say and he looks down at me. "It's okay."

"No, it's not," he argues and I sigh wearily.

"You need to get Esther's body before it gets up and runs again," I say and he seems to be debating this, knowing that I am right. "I'll be fine, I just need to rest."

"Fine," Klaus grumbles before handing me over to Kol and I wrap my arms around Kol's neck, feeling safe in his arms as they gingerly tighten around me, keeping me close to his chest. "Look after her while I'm gone."

"You don't need to order it of me, Nik," Kol says before turning and walking into the house, kicking the door closed behind us.

He begins to walk up the staircase and I can't help but curl further into him, for I never thought I'd see him again after last night. I take in and enjoy these moments in his arms, grateful that he's not using his supernatural speed. He reaches the top of the stairs and goes into a hallway where the bedrooms were. He comes to a stop in front of a door.

"Do you mind getting it?" he asks and I sigh with a smile, knowing that he can't get the doorknob with me occupying his arms and I turn the doorknob before he pushes it open with his foot as I lean my head on his shoulder.

I frown as I look around at the room with dark furniture and a small fireplace that is lit. "Is this your room?" I look around, noticing the bed, desk and bookshelves in the room. There's also another door that must be his bathroom.

"Yes, it is," he says as he stands in front of the _huge_ bed with dark crimson sheets and brown comforter. He lays me on the middle of the bed and I sigh in relief at how comfy it is before he tucks me in.

I frown when he turns to leave. "Kol?"

He turns back to me, a small smile on his lips. "Yes, darling?"

"Where are you going?" I ask, not wanting him to leave.

"I'm leaving," he says, turning to leave once more without even locking eyes with me.

I frown and groan as I push myself to stand, catching up to him out in the hallway while leaning against the wall for support, ignoring the burning in my body from moving so much with the amount of salt that is still in my body. "Why?"

"Why shouldn't I?" he asks as he stops, not turning to look at me. "I hurt you. I saw it in your eyes and I dislike the fact that I actually care that you were hurt."

"Do you really want to leave?" I ask him and I hear him sigh as his shoulders slump.

"Yes. It drives me insane how you made me care for you without much effort," he exhales as I continue to stare at his back. "Also, you were right."

I frown. "About what?" I ask as he slowly turns to face me, his eyes locking with mine.

"That what Mary said did make an impact on me. And I let them make an impact on me because I thought she was right," he says. "I listened to a mad vampire." He chuckles humorlessly. "And my emotions overwhelmed me like they never had before because I bordered on emotions I have long since buried; emotions that you slowly bring out of me and I don't like it. I have embraced what I am and I have never needed to feel in a thousand years; I've never found reason to."

"Why don't you want to feel?" I ask as I lean a bit more on the wall. "It's normal to do so."

"Because feeling can only ever bring pain," he sighs and I sigh with him, looking down at the floor, not liking the thought of Kol shutting off his emotions.

"Pain always comes in the package," I say. "But that is not the only thing That comes in the package."

"I also said things that I didn't mean," he says, to which I meet his eyes once more and they are filled with many emotions that are causing some strain in him, for I see it in how tense his body is. "You asked me why I took you with me."

"Yes and you asked me the same," I answer in a whisper, not really knowing where this conversation is headed, but I do hope it doesn't end with him leaving me. "What about it?"

"I asked you to come with me because I did _feel_ _something_. I didn't understand it and I wanted to figure it out because it wouldn't have gone away if I left alone; it would have driven me mad."

"What did you figure out?"

"That you are there in my mind every time I blink, every time I sleep, every time I don't have you with me. You're there during my every waking moment," he says and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the intensity in his eyes that are penetrating right through me.

"I thought you hated the face I wear because I look like her," I say, wanting to know how he really feels about me.

"I don't," he says and I frown as he approaches me, standing a few inches away from me.

I raise my eyebrows in question as he slowly takes my hand in his without ever breaking eye contact. "You don't?"

He nods. "And you don't look exactly like her."

"I don't?" I ask with furrowed eyebrows.

"Your hair is like gold while Jen's was like coal," he says as he strokes my hair with his free hand, keeping a grip on my hand with his other hand. "Your eyes are like the forest while Jen's were the darkest brown I'd ever seen." His thumb ghosts under my eyes. "Your skin is light while hers was tanned and hardened." He strokes my cheek, causing me to sigh at the feeling he was eliciting from me, something so foreign and _alive_. "Your voice is yours, unique and different while Jen's was too perfect and delicate." His hand goes to my throat, stroking it, leaving a hot trail on my skin while I try to keep my heart from breaking through my ribcage.

"What are we doing, Kol?" I ask as I look down from his gaze, not really knowing what to do. "I like you, but you don't like me. I look like Jen, who you hate. What am I to you?"

I feel my head being moved by my chin, seeing it is Kol as he makes me look his smiling face. "We are two broken beings that found one another, which we cannot take for granted; I don't." He pauses. "You are Gwen Pierson. You are a very unique ghost with a body that won't quit." I chuckle as his hand falls from my chin.

"I thought you could never be interested in me," I whisper as he leans closer to my face, inches away from mine as he keeps a hold of my hand and my neck.

He rests his forehead against mine with our eyes locked while I gulp down nervously at our extremely close proximity as our breaths collide with one another. Once more I feel how intense he is, how powerful his aura is and how much it affects me, knowing that it can make me do his every whim, but I am not going to tell him that any time soon. Our eyes are locked; jade-green and dark brown meet, forest and ground. His eyes are so brown and just _his_ that I can't help but be lost in them. Mary was right about one thing: Kol's eyes say more than his mouth could ever say with words.

His eyes dart to my lips before meeting my eyes once more and I do the same, taking in his thin lips, to which I blush before meeting his eyes once more, which are filled with mirth, meaning that he noticed me glancing at his lips and I know that my cheeks must be as red as apples.

"I lied," he breathes into my face before his lips gently meet mine, causing me to sigh against his lips, which catches me off guard as my eyes widen while his are closed.

As our lips remain connected in this sweet and gentle kiss, I place my free hand over the one he has on my neck, kissing him back as my eyes fall close. I can feel my stomach exploding. His lips are warm and soft against mine. It surprises me by being this gentle, but I know he's holding back. It's quite different from the awkward one we shared at the Halloween party, which was improvised and sloppy. He pulls away, resting his forehead against mine before a grin slowly grows on his lips and I smile at him as he strokes my cheek.

"How was that?" I ask him, worried that he might not have felt something since I'm a ghost and I'm only slightly corporeal.

"The kiss?" he asks with a raised eyebrow. "It was better than the first, which was not my best moment."

"Yes," I say while chuckling. "Well, I'm a ghost; I don't think you can feel much."

"That's not true," he says with a small grin. "The kiss was refreshing, a comfy cold as if you had just come inside from a snowy night."

"Good," I say.

"You're not bad for a woman that hasn't been in a romantic relationship," he says with a grin and I smack his arm, to which he laughs at this. "I was only joking, darling." He pulls back from my forehead, staring at me and I smile.

"What now?" I ask as he takes both of my hands in his.

"Now, you rest," he says as he leads me back into his room, careful not to be too hurried. "We don't want Nik to dagger me." I lie down on the bed and he lies down next to me with his arm around me, pulling me against his side while I lean my head on his shoulder with a smile; the feeling of peace overwhelming me at this very moment.

"You're not leaving?" I ask, feeling edgy as I wait for him to answer.

"You mean if I am leaving without you, right?" he asks as he grins at me, to which I blush a bit.

"Are you?" I ask.

"I'll drag you with me if you aren't coming with me, even if you're kicking and screaming," he says with a smirk, to which I roll my eyes at before smiling at him. "I'm not done with you, my darling."

"Where are we going?" I ask since I want to know if we're staying in Mystic Falls or leaving it behind; I'd prefer the latter.

"Wherever you want, my Darling Lass," he says and I giggle at his nickname, looking up to see him grinning down at me.

"Wherever I want?" I ask and he chuckles.

"Wherever you want," he repeats and I hum with my cheek on his shoulder.

"I haven't been anywhere, Kol," I whisper and he grins at me.

"I'll just have to show you the world," he says and I smile at him. "Besides, you promised me dance lessons."

I chuckle. "I did." I frown when he turns to the door with furrowed eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"Nik's back," he says and raises an eyebrow. "He's yelling at mother's corpse."

"Well," I begin. "Let him vent for a while. It's been a long night."

"You're right," he says and I lay my head on his chest as he strokes my hair with one hand while grabbing my hand and laying them on his stomach.

"As always," I tease and I know he's grinning.

"Don't push it, darling," he says and I chuckle. "My temper's worse than Nik's."

"Well, good thing I have experience," I say and he chuckles, feeling it vibrate through his chest.

"Rest, darling," he whispers into the top of my hair and I nod.

I snuggle into his chest, feeling happy with his arms around me in a protective embrace, ignoring the past and what the future might hold. I take in Kol's scent and warmth, sighing in relief before letting my eyes drop and focus on the now.

* * *

**The end of the chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed and remember to tell me your thoughts and opinions in your reviews. I have to say that your reviews are inspiring and the reason why I continue to write this story (also because I love writing this story).**

**We're close to ending Season 3 of the Vampire Diaries in my story and with it this installment, so wait for the next chapter.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed and see ya later!**


	26. Chapter 25

**Well, without further a do, here is the last chapter! Do not worry, I am not ending things here, lovelies. I'll be posting an Epilogue and then I'll be getting to work on the sequel because I can't jut simply end things here now, can I?**

**I do hope you guys enjoyed this story and that you're looking forward to not the end of the story between Gwen and Kol because I have many plans for them. This is just their introduction. :)**

**I will also extend my gratitude to you readers and your reviews that kept me going and inspired me throughout this story's progress and development. Love you guys!**

**Well, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me, except for the obvious things Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 25**

* * *

I smile widely as I continue to stare at what I woke up to a bit earlier. I am resting on my side with an arm under my head and the other pressed against his chest with the sheets gone, probably thrown to the side in our sleep. Kol is resting on his side, still sleeping. He also had an arm under his head and the other is around my waist, keeping me close to his front. His grip on my waist causing me to become warm and I notice how his grip doesn't seem to loosen, not even in his sleep and it makes me feel secure in his embrace.

I continue to smile at his serene face, showing how young he really looks and not a flirtatious or bloodthirsty vampire that is a thousand years old. I am also not going to deny how handsome he looks with the sunlight streaming through the window from behind him, making his body look like it's engulfed in light. His upper body rises and falls with every breath he takes and I couldn't help but be happy to have him alive and not stuck, unlike me. I raise the hand I have on his chest to place it on his cheek, stroking his cheek lightly with my thumb, jolts of electric fire going through me at the warmth his skin projects onto mine.

I blush when an idea forms in my head about a way I can wake him up, which causes me to stir a bit in nervousness since I can't wring my wrists, but I keep myself frozen in place so as to not wake him while his grip on my waist tightens unconsciously. I take a deep, calming myself before leaning closer to Kol's face. I am only a breath away from his face and I close my eyes for a second to collect myself, still stroking his cheek.

I open my eyes and look from his closed eyes to his nose and then to his lips, to which my blush deepens. I hold my breath and close my eyes before placing my lips on his. I sigh against his warm lips, loving how they mold against mine. I pull back and open my eyes to see him stir a bit with a small smile on his lips, which I am going to guess that he liked what I did. Once more, I take a deep, unnecessary breath and close my eyes before pressing my lips to his. He stirs this time, his grip on my waist tightening as he pulls me flush against him. I go to pull back, but his hand on my waist travels up to behind my neck and keeps me in place for a bit more while my hand travels down from his cheek to his chest.

He pulls away and I smile at him while he grins at me, his hand stroking my hair out of my face. "I always finish what I start, my Darling Lass. You'd do well to remember that."

I giggle. "Good morning."

"It's better than a good morning," he says and I smile with a fake frown since I know he'll say something cheesy and romantic about me being on his bed.

"Is it?" I ask.

"Of course," he says while frowning mockingly.

"How so?" I ask.

"Well, I have a most ravishing angel on my bed," he says and I chuckle.

"Aren't you a charmer," I tease.

"And handsome," he adds and I playfully roll my eyes at him. "Now, where were we?" He leans closer to my face with predatory eyes.

"I don't know what you mean," I lie, knowing exactly what he means.

"Don't start playing coy with me, my darling," he says, his nose against mine and his lips almost brushing against mine.

"I think I need a little help remembering whatever you seem to remember that I don't," I say as he chuckles before his lips fall upon mine, causing me to sigh against them.

Unlike last night, this kiss is not quite gentle. It's more urgent and hungry as Kol's hand comes to rest on the side of my neck to pull me even closer against him while the other does the same on the other side of my neck. All the while, my hands are sandwiched between my chest and his. I could feel his tongue against my bottom lip, begging me for entrance and I know he'll easily dominate the kiss. I grin against his lips and deny him entrance, to which he growls, not liking when he's denied of something, and he pulls away.

I could tell he is full of lust as he looks all over at my body and I couldn't help but feel excited by this while I blush at his staring, looking down at his swollen lips from our kiss and I can also feel mine are swollen as well, raw from the contact of his lips on mine.

Without warning, his lips are on mine once more and I gasp in surprise, giving him opportunity to enter my mouth like he wanted earlier, causing me to moan. My moan makes my cheeks burn as my lips follow his rhythm unconsciously. I trace my hands to his neck, bringing him closer against me, for I wanted his warmth on my body. His lips leave mine and begin to trail hot kisses down to my throat, causing my chest to collide against his and feel every breath he takes.

"Kol," I moan as I stroke his neck and my cheeks burn at what I just did, my eyes widening as I hear him chuckle against my neck, causing me to feel a bit ticklish while I cease my movements.

He pulls away and grins at me while I stare at him in embarrassment and retract my hands to hide my burning cheeks. "We haven't even gotten to the good part, my Darling Lass. Still, I do have to say that I love how you say my name like that."

"Yeah," I say, still embarrassed as he pries my hands away from my face.

"No need to be shy, darling," he says as he pecks my lips, lingering for a bit. "I do hope that I outmatch any previous suitor."

My breath catches as my blush deepens nervously before I look anywhere but his eyes, remembering something quite important about myself that I practically forgot after six years and I don't how he might react, which can be a negative reaction.

"Darling?" he asks and I play with the neckline of his shirt nervously.

"Yes?" I ask as I keep my eyes on my fingers while they play with his neckline, his body pressed against mine is not helping at all.

"I asked you a question," he says, his tone calm but impatient and I hum.

"Really?" I ask.

"Gwen, look at me," he says and there's no mirth in his tone so I meet his eyes. "Are you going to answer?"

"I have no answer," I say and he frowns, confused by my words.

"What do you mean you have no answer?" he asks and I shrug.

I close my eyes and take a deep and calming breath before opening them to meet his. "I'll tell you, but don't you dare laugh or think I'm some sort of strange thing."

He chuckles. "I promise."

"There were no suitors before you," I exhale, deciding to say it fast and be done with it. "I died a virgin and I also died before I could even get kissed. It's pathetic, I know." I avoid his eyes, not wanting to see his reaction.

He's a thousand years old with a lot of experience. I doubt he'll want to be with an inexperienced ghost that won't be able to satisfy his needs or whatever vampires do to get any other form of pleasure that doesn't involve feeding on blood.

Suddenly, his lips crash against mine and I frown but kiss him back, surprised by his reaction before he pulls back, smirking. "It's endearing. I'm honored to have given you your first kiss. Knowing me, I know I didn't disappoint in the least."

I roll my eyes at him before frowning. "You're not miffed by this?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Why would I be?" he asks with furrowed eyebrows as he strokes my cheek and I shrug.

"Well, you're a thousand year old vampire. I thought you'd want someone with more experience," I explain and he grins down at me.

"Like I said, it's endearing and it's certainly my pleasure," he says, grinning. "Besides, you are delightful to kiss, my Darling Lass. You are as innocent as any other person—except for me or my siblings or any other dark soul on this earth." I chuckle at this. "But you also have another side to you that is not so innocent, which is the one that has helped you overlook the horrors that I and my family have made throughout the centuries. You're far from ordinary or inexperienced, I can attest to that."

I smile at his words. "Well, good that we have that out in the open," I say and he grins before meeting my lips once more with his and I kiss him back, the feeling never ceasing to burn up every inch of my skin in pleasure.

"Kol, if you brought a tramp home with you…" Rebekah's voice trails off as she enters the room, causing me and Kol to pull away from the kiss to turn and see her frozen in shock by the doorway of the room.

Rebekah's eyes were wide with her mouth open in shock as she just stands there, staring at us with her arms limp to her sides as Kol and I prop ourselves on our elbows to have a better look at her while we retrieve our other hands from being on the other. We stare at Rebekah with blank looks, having no idea what to do or say. The silence in the room is killing me while Kol simply grins with all his smugness in it, to which I roll my eyes at.

"Do close your mouth, sister. A bird might nest in it," he says while I continue to avoid anyone's eyes while my cheeks flare.

"What's this?" Rebekah whispers, still in shock as she points at us with an accusing finger, waving it at us as I manage to meet her eyes. "Gwen?"

"What does it look like to you?" I ask her, looking to know how she might feel about this since it's best to tread lightly from now on. _I was kissing her brother and she caught us in the act, _I think to myself. _Not the best way to go about things._

"It looked like you were snogging my brother," she says, her tone difficult to read as she steps closer into the room with her arms crossed over her chest with narrowed eyes that dart between me and Kol.

"It was more the other way around," I explain, trying to change the topic as Kol chuckles. "Not helping," I whisper to him, to which he tries to muffle his chuckling with pursed lips.

"Don't try to change the topic," Rebekah says and I sigh before sitting up straighter.

"Yes, I was 'snogging' your brother," I say and her eyebrows rise while she hums.

"It's quite pleasant, sister," says Kol. "If I may exaggerate, it was bloody fantastic."

"Are you all right, Gwen?" Rebekah asks me and I frown, knowing that she thinks that Kol tricked me or something of the like.

"No, he didn't trick or compel me, even though he can't since I'm dead." She continues to keep her eyes on me without saying anything and I just sit there while Kol had lied back down on the bed with his arms pillowing his head, smirking. "Bex?"

Her mouth slowly quirks up into a grin and I release a small sigh in relief. "So…you and Kol?" she asks and I nod. "What, so are you in a relationship or something?"

"It's a work in progress, but you rudely interrupted us, _dear_ sister," Kol says as he sits next to me and gives Rebekah a small glare. "Thank you for that."

"Always a pleasure," she says as she smirks back at him. "When did this happen?" she asks as she waves a finger between me and Kol.

"Last night," Kol and I answer in unison.

"She was dancing around me for a while," Kol says and I frown at him.

"I was not!" I say indignantly as he practically threw me under the bus and he chuckles while Rebekah sighs.

"Get used to his annoying ego," says Rebekah. "So it happened last night?"

"We kissed like a few days ago," he says, to which Rebekah's eyes widen.

"You've already kissed?" she asks.

"It was an accidental kiss that we didn't plan," I clarify, shooting a glare at Kol, which he shrugs off with a smirk on his lips. "Technically, last night's kiss was kind of the first since it was intentional."

"Really?" she asks with a grin, but it slowly fades. "The dance was last night."

"What dance?" I ask with a frown.

"A dance I organized with the Roaring 20s as the theme," she says as she groans in frustration.

"Why didn't you go?" I ask as Kol gets up from the bed.

"This is getting boring," says Kol.

"Where are you going?" I look at him and he smirks at me.

"Missing me already?" he asks and I tilt my head in irritation, waiting for the answer. "I'm taking a shower. You're welcome to join, except you, Bekah. You can scurry out of here," he says as he enters the bathroom.

"Stay in there for the rest of eternity, maybe that will benefit all of us," Rebekah remarks before sitting on the bed in front of me.

"You'd all miss me," he says before the shower is turned on.

Rebekah rolls her eyes and I ask, "Why didn't you go, Bex?"

She looks down at her hands on her lap. I notice her downtrodden demeanor and I grab her hands to comfort her since her eyes seem saddened. "Mother took over my body to trick Nik into thinking that he destroyed the last white oak stake and also fooled him into going to the party so he would be cornered, giving her enough time to complete her task to kill him."

"Then what?" I prompt her and she sighs before meeting my eyes; I notice the water in them that she refuses to release.

"Then she had that history teacher drive a dagger through my heart," she says bitterly. "I couldn't do anything but wait as my mother did what she pleased with my body, keeping me locked up while everything unfolded."

"I'm sorry you didn't get to go to your party, Bex," I say as I squeeze her hands in comfort and she nods, sniffing back any tears before smiling at me. "I know you really wanted to go and experience being a teenager for once. It sucked." We both laugh.

"No matter, there's still time for another dance," she says and I nod at her encouragingly. "Well," she says as she takes her phone out of her jacket, glancing at the time in it before tucking it away in her jacket, "I have cleaning duties. I'll see you soon and probably before you tell Nik about Kol. I don't want to be absent and miss Nik's face when he finds out about you two."

I groan in frustration, knowing that it might not go so well. "Don't remind me. That's a mission impossible in my books. I don't know how he might react and it's frightening because he can be protective in an aggressive way."

"I have experience in that front. I suggest you bargain something or run before he finds you," she says and I nod as she stands up from the bed, but turns to me with a glare, to which I frown. "Don't _ever_ leave without saying anything. I thought the worst had happened. And if you do it again I'll drag you through every mall in this country without rest."

I smile softly at her. "I won't. Do you know where Nik is?"

"He's packing to leave town," she says. "I should go early and come back. I really don't want to miss out Nik's face when you tell him about you and Kol."

"He'll have to deal with it. I think it's time I did things that I want to do," I say and she nods before going to leave the room.

She stops at the doorway before turning to me. "You're good for my brother and he'll be good to you. I want details that have nothing to do with your intimacy levels with my brother when I get back."

I nod at her with a smile that she returns before turning back around and leaving. I sigh before falling back on the mattress, still loving how soft it is under me. I only have to wait for a few more moments before the shower stops running and Kol exits the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, his hair slicked back and my mouth opens slightly at the sight. I gulp as drops of water fall from his hair to his chest while some still roll down his chest. I look up to his face to see him smirking at me and I blush before looking away.

"I knew you gazed at me," he says while chuckling and I huff with a smile, looking up at the ceiling. "I can give you something else to gaze at. It's only a bit south from what you were staring at."

"No need," I retort and he chuckles, hearing some shuffling and I know he's getting dressed, which is more the reason I should not stray my eyes from the ceiling, even though I _really_ want to.

I take a deep breath as I hear the sound of his towel dropping to the floor before hearing him rummage through some drawers. I gulp down a nervous lump in my throat, product of having Kol naked right next to me and I can _feel_ the smirk that is present on his lips, which only makes me roll my eyes. I hear some more shuffling and assume his getting dressed, but I don't dare to stray my eyes over to him, for my morality of giving privacy and probable embarrassment outweighs any other feeling.

"You can look," he says and I chuckle softly, doubting if he's really dressed. "I promise that I am fully dressed."

"You might be lying for all I know," I say.

"When have I lied to you in the span of our time together, darling?" he asks and I sigh, knowing that he's right since I don't recall him lying to me at the moment, which is not fair because my head is more focused on him than anything else.

I sigh before I turn to him, seeing that he is fully dressed while smiling at me cheekily. "You win this time."

"Are you ever getting off that bed?" he asks.

"I'm thinking about it," I say.

"Let's get breakfast or some blood, I'm starving," he says and I smile before sitting up and sitting on the edge of the bed before standing.

"You're that hungry?" I ask with an expectant look.

"Very," he says as he offers his hand for me to take and I do, enjoying the warmth that it passes over to me before he leads us out of the room.

Like Kol can't keep his smirk off his face, I can't keep my smile off my face as we walk hand-in-hand towards the stairs, but then I remember that we have to talk to Klaus, which is better than not talking to him at all. We can't just take off without telling him or he'll find us like last time and I don't want to leave with conflict trailing behind us. Kol whistles as we descend the stairs, the image of a man—Original vampire—who has been victorious. I shake my head at his childish behavior as we make it to the bottom of the stairs.

"Which do we do first?" Kol asks me as we stand at the bottom of the staircase.

I frown. "What do you mean?"

"Breakfast or telling Nik that I have ravaged that beautiful mouth of yours," he says and I blush, looking down while he chuckles. "I would prefer breakfast. It's too early for one of Klaus' temper tantrums." _Breakfast entails him eating food or drinking blood while I drink a cup of tea or coffee. _I think. _Way easier than dealing with Klaus at the moment._

"Are you giving me the benefit of hearing my choice?" I tease as I smile up at him.

"You know me so well," he says.

"I don't want to drag it out, but you seem like you're starving," I say. "Did you eat at all yesterday?"

"No," he says as he stands close to my front with our eyes locked. "I think I made a record when I drove all the way here, only stopping for gas and that didn't take long."

"Why so fast?" I ask and he gives me a lopsided smile.

"Because I had to rescue the infuriating woman that I chased away," he says and I give him a small smile in return.

"Well, breakfast it is," I say and then we walk towards the kitchen.

Once we're in the kitchen, Kol releases my hand and walks over to the fridge, inspecting what he can eat. While he decides on what he'll have, I grab everything I need to make tea.

I turn to him while he still inspects the fridge. "Do you want tea?"

"Yes, darling," he says, not looking away from the fridge. "I do so love your tea."

"I'm actually going to try something new for you," I say as an idea forms in my head. "Call it an experiment."

"Really?" he asks me, glancing at me with a grin before grabbing a blood bag from the fridge. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise," I say as he passes me, grabbing a glass from the cupboard above me.

"I can't wait," he breathes into my ear, causing a shiver to go down my spine before he sits on a chair in the kitchen island.

I begin to make tea, making sure Kol is preoccupied, which he is as he seems to be playing around with his phone, which gives me the opportunity to go to the fridge and grab a blood bag before going back to the tea. After I pour tea into two cups, one for me and another for him, I carefully open the blood bag, keeping it out of his view. I take a spoon and put two spoons of blood in his steaming mug, swirling the spoon before placing the blood bag back in the fridge.

I grab the two mugs and walk over to Kol, placing his mug next to his glass of blood while I stand next to him, taking a sip from my mug. I notice he's checking traveling sites and I smile, knowing that we'll soon be travelling again. I also feel amazed at how fast he isadapting to technology.

"Tea's ready," I say and he snaps his head to me and grins before picking up his mug and taking a sip. I watch him as he frowns, taking another sip from his mug. "What?" I grin.

"Did you do something to the tea?" he asks as he continues to frown at the cup, taking sips as he tries to figure out what's different.

"You're the vampire, you should know," I say and he merely frowns at the mug. "I added blood to your cup from one of the blood bags."

He turns to me with raised eyebrows in amusement. "Really? What gave you that idea?"

"You are a vampire," I say. "I thought, since you like my tea and you drink blood, that you'd like a mix of the two."

"Well, you have outdone yourself," he says as he takes another sip from his mug. "How does London sound?" He meets my eyes as they widen with my smile.

"England?" I ask.

"They are pretty much in the same place, darling," he says with a cheeky smile and I nod.

"Well, it sounds perfect," I say.

"I promised you the world and I will deliver," he says as he grabs my waist and pulls me to his side, to which I blush as he buries his nose into my neck, sniffing my skin. "You best deliver those dance lessons in return," he says against my skin and I giggle, cringing away from him. "Ticklish, are we?" He pulls away from my neck and I lean against his side.

"No," I lie, keeping my mug secure in both of my hands while I lean on the counter. He retracts his hand from around my waist and grabs his phone while the other keeps a grip on his mug of my special tea.

I smile as I take a sip from my tea, feeling the liquid in my mouth before it goes down my throat and I no longer feel it. But, right now, I feel at peace with Kol at my side. I can't get enough of his warmth, which I crave since I can't exactly feel many things that I yearn to feel and it's frustrating, but Kol's warmth is something I can't give up and I don't plan to.

"England it is," Kol says as he puts his phone down and raises his mug to me and I meet his mug with mine in a toast.

"England it is," I say with a smile before taking a sip from my mug.

"England is what?" I freeze when I hear Klaus before seeing him enter the kitchen, going over to the fridge while Kol and I remain silent.

Kol and I share a glance and he motions me to say something, to which I glare at him and he counters with a smirk. "Seems like a great place to visit this time of year, huh?" I ask nervously as Klaus grabs a blood bag and pours it into a glass.

"I suppose," he says as he turns to us while taking a sip from his glass of blood.

"Well, it's settled," I say with a smile as I clap my hands together while Klaus frowns at me and Kol hides his grin with his mug.

"What's settled?" Klaus asks with his eyes narrowing on me.

"We're going to England," Kol blurts out and I begin to breathe again, not having noticed I had stopped.

"Who?" Klaus asks and I take a deep breath.

"Kol and…" I hesitate, "me." I chuckle nervously as Klaus frowns, "And that is open for interpretation."

"What?" asks Klaus, his face hardening and I stand a few feet in front of him, wary of what his reaction might be.

"I am going to travel with Kol," I say as Klaus laughs humorlessly.

"You're leaving with my little brat of a brother, who made you leave in the middle of the night," Klaus says and I nod.

"Those are problems long-resolved, Nik," Kol says from behind me and a chair scrapes, which means he is on his feet.

"Are they?" Klaus asks with a mocking grin.

"Yes," I say and Klaus' eyes meet mine.

"Why are you leaving with him, Gwen?" Klaus asks me and I sigh. "Why did you even leave with him the first time? It's not like you."

"Because _I_ did something I wanted to do, Nik," I say. "I love you. You're the brother I never had and I stood by you for six years without questioning you," I say and he opens his mouth to retort. "I didn't question you when it mattered," I clarify. "I never did things I wanted because I never found reason to, but now I have."

"By choosing Kol over me?" Klaus asks through clenched teeth.

"I'm not choosing Kol over you, I'm choosing to do something I want to do," I say. "I'm not leaving you, I just want to do and experience things that I wanted to when I was alive."

It pains me to leave Klaus, but I really don't want to give up the opportunity that I have in this moment. I want to travel, see things and get out of this cocoon of protection I built around me by being with Klaus because he has always been my security blanket. I knew that nothing could hurt me when I was with Klaus and I enjoyed it because he became very dear and important to me, but I want to break free of my little bubble and just _live_, even though I can't exactly do it.

"I can give you those things, but I won't leave you in Kol's care," Klaus counters and I sigh, gathering my bearings because this is not easy, it never is with Klaus.

"I can take care of myself, Nik," I say.

"Besides, you can't give her some _specific_ needs, brother," Kol says and I glare at him, but he grins at Klaus. I turn to Klaus and see the realization dawn on his face before he blurs over to Kol, slamming him against the wall.

"Nik, stop!" I plead as Klaus grips Kol by his neck against the wall, but Kol turns the tables, headbutting Klaus to break free of his hold before throwing him against the opposite wall. I see Klaus ready to lunge on Kol, but I appear in front of Kol with my back to his front, stopping Klaus in his tracks as I glare at him, reminding me of that night at the motel. "Enough, Niklaus."

Klaus takes a deep breath, giving me a hard look before pacing in front of us, grumbling. "What did he promise you?" Klaus asks as he grins at me mockingly. "Did he say he will take care of you and never leave you? He will discard you like a ragged doll."

"I will not," Kol says from behind me while I ignore Klaus' words. "I'm not you, Nik. I actually have social skills."

"Come on, little brother. I know you want to rip her throat out," Klaus says with an evil smirk that is painfully familiar. "End her life before she follows Jen's footsteps, am I right?"

"I _did_ think about it," Kol says and I sigh. "I changed my mind."

"Just like that?" Klaus asks.

"Just like that," Kol says as he stands next to me, taking my hand in his and Klaus notices this.

Klaus chuckles humorlessly as he grins darkly. "He roped you in with his charms, only to break your heart later, leaving me to pick up the pieces. Don't be a fool, Gwen."

"It's not true," I say. "I know what I'm getting myself into and I know it won't be easy, our lives are never easy, but I am going to take a leap of faith and do something I want to do, with or without your support." Klaus' eyes flash with anger mixed with hurt and I give him a pleading look to understand as he leans closer to me, his eyes furious.

"Go then, see if I care," Klaus tells me before leaving the kitchen.

"Nik!" I call as I drop Kol's hand to go follow Klaus, but stop, knowing that he won't be in the mood to listen.

"He'll come around, darling," Kol says as he stands next to me. "You of all people should know why he reacted like a spoiled child."

"It's because he feels like I'm abandoning him," I say as I stare at the floor, sad at the idea of leaving things like this with Klaus. "He fears being alone and I promised him that I would never abandon him."

"You're not abandoning him," Kol says as he grabs my hand and turns my body to his, placing a finger under my chin to make me look up at his grinning face. "You're just choosing to do what you want, which is to go on a trip with the most handsome Mikaelson." I chuckle as I smack his arm. "Why do you always wound me, darling?"

"Why do you always deserve it?" I counter before he grins, leaving my lips tingling for more.

"I'll go get my things and put them in the car, do you need anything?" he asks me and I shake my head.

"I'll just go now and smooth things with Nik," I say and he nods before leaving.

I sigh as I wait for Kol to disappear from my sight before appearing in the room I know Klaus is at. I appear in his art studio, watching him shove things in boxes. Yes, I know that I am taking a huge risk by leaving with Kol to another country, but I want to take it. I want to learn more about Kol and just be with him. It's time I do things I want to do.

"Nik?" I say carefully, treading lightly.

"I thought you and Kol would've been gone on your honeymoon by now," Klaus says with a bitter grin, not meeting my eyes and I huff in irritation.

"What's the real problem, Nik?" I ask and he meets my eyes, but his don't show anything. "I told you that I'm not abandoning you. I just want to live my life after feeling trapped for so long in the state that I'm in. I'm a ghost, I don't have many things going for me and I want to make the best of it."

"He will disappoint you," he says as he stands in front of me before turning to pack a box.

"What if he doesn't and I get to live a life that I never thought I'd get back?" I counter.

"Then you're just a love-sick fool like Rebekah," he says and I roll my eyes at him.

"I know I am, Nik. And insulting me isn't going to get you anywhere" I say with my head tilted. "Talk to me."

He sighs after sealing a box, leaning on it as he seems to be contemplating his next words. "I don't want you to leave," he whispers and I sigh. "You're my best friend. You're my other sister in everything but blood that I rely on and you have never failed me. And I will be losing you to my little brother, who knows _nothing_ about you." He chuckles wryly. "It's not surprising that even you aren't spared from being roped into a triangle between two Mikaelsons, even if it isn't about trying to earn your love like the Salvatores do by groveling on the ground that Elena walks on."

"Which is why I'm going on this trip," I say. "Because we want to be near one another and we want to make sense of these feelings that we have. And being here isn't going to help, not with all these people trying to kill us. I promise that we'll come back and that I'll call."

"Once an hour?" he asks, a slow grin growing on his lips and I tilt my head at him with a raised eyebrow. "Once a day?" he asks and I nod happily before hugging him, feeling him returning the gesture. "I'll miss you _so_ much, Cat."

"This isn't goodbye forever. I'm just going on a little vacation," I say. "But I'll miss you too, Mouse."

Klaus' grip tightens around me as I have my arms around his neck, feeling my eyes water a bit because I've never gone too far from Klaus. He has always been my security blanket, my confidant, my friend and, most importantly, he has been family. We're immortal, so there is a definite chance that we _will_ see each other again, there's no doubt about that.

"Ready, darling?" I hear Kol ask and I turn to find him leaning against the doorway with his hands in his pockets and a soft grin on his lips.

"I am," I say as I pull away from Klaus' arms, leaving the man that has always been there for me and I walk over to Kol, the man that I have found that I can't bear to part with in such a short time. When I grab Kol's hand, my eyes widen as I remember something of vital importance, turning to Klaus. "Nik there's still one more stake."

"What?" Kol and Klaus ask in unison and I try to shrink myself at their hard looks on me.

"I'm sure I mentioned that," I whisper while they frown at me.

"I destroyed the last stake. Rebekah gave it to me yesterday," Klaus says and I shake my head.

"Esther possessed her yesterday," I tell him. "She also used a Gilbert ring to make the stake indestructible; it will not burn if it stakes an Original. What are we going to do?"

Klaus sighs with his eyes closed and opens them a second later. "I'll handle it."

"What?" I ask him.

"You leave with Kol, it's for the best since those imbeciles have a weapon they can use against us," Klaus says and I smile at him. "Go on."

"You're sure?" I ask and Klaus gives me a lopsided smile.

"I think it's best for you to do as you please," says Klaus.

"Be careful," I say and he nods before Kol and I turn to leave.

"Kol," Klaus says, causing me and Kol to turn to him once more, "just so you know, she's a magnet for trouble." He grins and I scoff while Kol chuckles, his grip on my hand tightening a bit in his laughter.

"I am not," I retort.

"I believe you, brother," Kol says and I glare at him. "We'll call before we leave."

"Tell Rebekah that I'm sorry that I won't be here when she comes back and that I'll miss her and I'll call her," I say and Klaus nods.

"Also," Klaus says as he gives Kol cold eyes, "I'll break your spine and every other bone in your body if she comes to any form of harm, little brother." I see Kol's grin falter a bit under Klaus' serious and cold eyes.

"Yes and I'll end up in a box with a dagger in my chest and whatnot," Kol says as he composes himself from Klaus' stare before Kol tugs at my hand. "It's time for us to make our way to the sunset, darling."

"Yeah," I say and I take one last glance at Klaus. "See you soon, Mouse," I say and he grins at me before I follow Kol out of the mansion, ready to start this little adventure of ours and I can't help but feel excited about this.

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**The Almost End of this installment! One more chapter and done! Leave your thoughts, opinions, questions in your reviews or PM me, whatever you wish. I am super excited to get started on the sequel so just you wait.**

**Also, expect certain questions in the next update that I'll be asking to find inspiration and such that you guys will certainly give. And now, well, see ya later and hope you enjoyed!**


	27. Epilogue

**The last chapter! But there is no need to worry, my darlings! I'm am currently working on the sequel, so look forward to that. With this chapter I close the Season 3 of Vampire Diaries and moving to Season 4.**

**It has been a thrill writing this story and I am overjoyed at how supportive my dear faithful readers have been, for you have been my inspiration to continue to write his story. I would extend gratitude to specific people, but I won't because I will do it by saying, Thank you All! I am sorry but I don't want to appear like a selfish person or have favorites from others, I don't like doing that. So! Thank you All once more! You guys have been awesome!**

**Remember, nothing of the Vampire Diaries belongs to me! Enjoy!**

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**Epilogue**

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"Elijah can be extremely persistent," Kol says as we enter the airport a bit past dusk after leaving the car behind since it's Klaus' and we'll tell him that we took it so he can come and pick it up. We didn't need to go through all the checkpoints that airports have these days since Kol only had one bag and he could just compel everything for us instead of paying.

"Just answer," I tell him as I stop walking, causing us both to stop through our joined hands before going any further into the airport, his grip on my hand tightening a bit in his frustration.

He groans as he takes his phone out of his jacket pocket. "Fine." He dials as I stand in front of him while he puts the phone to his ear. "You can't let alone, can you?" he asks with a bitter grin that is directed at Elijah but then he frowns. "What do you mean they have him?" I frown at this. "How?" There's a pause. "The Bennett witch?"

"What's wrong?" I ask and he nods at me to wait, but I begin to worry.

"Where is he now?" he asks as he sighs frustratingly. "Look, he deserves it, but I agree that his punishment is for us to decide." He is practically trying to glare at Elijah through the phone and I sigh, keeping calm. "I'll honor the bloody deal." He stops as he listens before his eyes meet mine with raised eyebrows. "You can discuss it with her." He offers me the phone and I frown at him before taking it and putting it to my ear.

"Hello, 'Lijah," I greet as Kol stands behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and placing his chin on my head, causing my stomach to flip anxiously at having Kol so close to my body while my heart begins to beat hard and my cheeks burn.

"_Good evening, Miss Gwen,_" I hear Elijah's voice greet. "_I_ _have to say that I am not so surprised to know you're with my youngest brother._" I blush at this as I place my free hand over the ones Kol has wrapped around me.

"Yeah, we're at the airport. We thought we'd take a vacation."

"_Then I regret to inform you that it will have to be delayed,_" he says and I frown.

"Why?" I ask and Kol detaches himself from my back and leads us to some seats, sitting us down and he throws an arm on the back of my seat, paying close attention to what Elijah is saying with his head turned to me. "What happened?"

"_It seems that Niklaus has found himself in a bit of a pickle,_" he says and I exhale with a frown, not expecting for Klaus to be in any trouble.

"What did he do now?" I sigh while Kol grins.

"_Bonnie Bennett has managed to desiccate Niklaus and now Elena and her companions have his body,_" he says and my eyes widen.

"What?" I ask, not knowing what to say, for I didn't want to even imagine what they might do to Klaus, which can end horribly for them if he comes to further harm. "H-How did this happen?"

"_It appears that their teacher didn't die as he was supposed to, the hunter that my mother created to kill all vampires,_" he explains.

"His name is Alaric, right?" I ask, remembering that my blood must've still been in the goblet that Esther intended for Alaric to drink to complete the transition.

"_Yes,_" says Elijah. "_He appears to have completed his transition and was using Elena to have the Salvatores bring him Klaus, but it failed. In turn, Klaus took Elena, almost drained her of her blood and was desiccated with the combined strength of the Salvatores and Miss Bennett._"

"We need to get him back," I say from the edge of my seat.

"I agreed with Elijah's plan on how to get him back," Kol says and I frown at him.

"What plan?" I ask.

"_To make a deal,_" says Elijah and I huff.

"And you trust them?" I ask.

"_My deal is one they cannot refuse,_" says Elijah. "_They'd be fools not to accept it, but I need your full cooperation, Miss Gwen._"

"I will cooperate, but only when you tell me what this deal entails," I say and Kol seems to be rather impressed with my cautiousness before accepting something.

"They give us Nik and we keep him desiccated for a few centuries. We also take the indestructible white oak stake and run for our lives as Alaric chases us," Kol explains.

"_No harm will come to them after we retrieve Niklaus and the weapon. Then, we leave Mystic Falls, never to return while the hunter follows us,_" says Elijah. "_We've done it before, we can do it again and we will do this until Elena dies._"

I frown. "What does her death have to do with anything?"

"_When she dies, the hunter will also die with her,_" says Elijah. "_An insurance that my mother must have placed to make sure that no vampires are left on this Earth if his plan to kill every Original had succeeded._"

"Well, tough luck for her," I say. "Why doesn't someone just kill Elena?"

"I agree with her, brother," says Kol. "We can kill her and then fetch Nik, not that he doesn't deserve to be locked up for some well-deserved time out."

"_Many things could go wrong if Elena dies,_" says Elijah and I roll my eyes. _Why does everyone have to die before she even gets a scrape?_ I think to myself. "_Swear to me that you will honor this deal._"

I exhale loudly and roll my eyes. "Fine, I'll honor it."

"I'll honor it as well," says Kol.

"_Thank you both,_" says Elijah. "_I will go over to Elena's house and make the deal._"

"Elijah," I say before he hangs up.

"_Yes?_" he asks.

"Make sure he's okay and call when you have him," I say and I know he nodded.

"_Of course,_" he says. "_I hope you and Kol have a pleasant trip after all of this is done._"

"Thank you, 'Li-" Kol snatches the phone from my hand and puts it to his ear, which seems to be turning into a habit of his to snatch the phone from my hands before I'm finished talking.

"Remember, a couple of centuries are enough for me to have him daggered," Kol says and I roll my eyes at him. "It's so good that he has a taste of his own medicine. See you soon, brother." He hangs up before releasing a long and weary sigh. "That was entertaining."

"Can we wait until we hear word from Elijah before we leave the country?" I ask as Kol meets my eyes. "After he has Klaus, we'll leave."

"Fine," he says and I nod before leaning my head on his shoulder while his hand on the back of my seat strokes my shoulder as we wait for news from Elijah.

"Do you think he'll be all right?" I ask, wanting some other form of reassurance.

I have never thought I'd have to worry over Klaus like this. Yes, I worried if he'd get a scrape or a bruise, but that was different. This time, he's desiccated, vulnerable and unable to defend himself. And to make matters worse, the people that wish him dead and so does the indestructible vampire hunter that is after him and his siblings. I still see him coming through this, even if he is to spend some centuries desiccated. I do feel guilty for agreeing to have him desiccated, but it is the only way to get him back and it is easier to have him agree to the plan when he's like this. Still, we'll just have to wait and see.

"Nik's come unscathed from worse," Kol says, breaking me out of my thoughts. "We'll get him back, watch him rot for a while and then we'll be happy after and for who knows how long."

"We're immortal," I say. "I guess it will be for a while." _Well, who knows how long we'll be together, if we even are. _"Kol?"

"Hmm?" I hear him hum and I look up to meet his brown eyes with my jade-green ones. "What is it?"

"What are we?" I ask, frowning. "In this century, a boy is called a boyfriend and a girl is called a girlfriend when they're in a romantic relationship, if we even are in one." I scrunch up my nose at having to call Kol 'my boyfriend'; it just doesn't ring right with him. "I don't know if you like the sound of it and I would have a problem if this is just a little fling."

He smirks before pecking my lips, leaving me blushing when he pulls back to continue to smirk at me. "Well, I seriously have a problem with the labels this century has," he says as he frowns weirdly in reference to the 'boyfriend and girlfriend' thing. "And I would not call you 'my girlfriend' because you may be my friend, but what I want with you surpasses friendship." He pauses with furrowed brows as he thinks things over. "And I _do_ want to be romantically involved with you, so make no mistake about that."

"So…" I frown, "what are we?"

"Partners?" he says while grinning impishly and leaning closer to my face, appearing to have the intention to kiss me. "Significant other?" He trails his nose from my neck to brushing his lips on the corner of my mouth, causing me to cease breathing and anxiously waiting what he'll do next. "Lovers?" His lips brushing against mine as he spoke with my eyes locked on his and I can't help be overwhelmed by all of him, which keeps my body frozen in place for him to do as he pleases.

"All of the above," I whisper with a smirk of my own with my lips brushing his before pulling away, to which he smirks devilishly.

"Well, aren't you a tease?" he practically purrs with his head still leaning close to mine.

"So are you," I say. "I need to keep up."

"Let's see if you can," he says, his eyes challenging and I grin at him.

He leans closer with determination in his eyes, which is probably to kiss me. His lips are mere inches from clashing with mine, but stops at the ringing of his phone. He growls in irritation, which causes me to chuckle at his face of annoyance as he takes his phone out of his pocket. He looks at the screen and groans as the phone continues to ring.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"Elijah," he says and lowers the phone as he turns to me with a smirk before leaning closer to my face, to which I pull away.

"Aren't you picking it up?" I ask with a frown, desperate for him to pick up the phone before it stops ringing.

"It's probably to tell us he has Nik, so stop killing the joy," he says as he goes to lean closer to me once more, but I maneuver out of his way and snatch the phone from his hand. I answer it as I hear him groan in annoyance from beside me. "You are a killer of joy."

"And you still keep me around," I say as I put the ear to my ear. "Hello, this is Kol's phone, but Gwen is speaking."

"_Miss Gwen?_" I hear Elijah's voice, but something seems off in his tone of voice, which causes me to frown in worry.

"'Lijah?" I ask as I turn to Kol, noticing he is also frowning. "Are you all right? Is something wrong?"

"_Things are not right,_" he says, to which my brows furrow deeper.

"What is it?" I ask but the phone is snatched from my hand and I watch Kol stand as he puts the phone to his ear.

"Elijah, it's Kol," Kol says in greeting and I stand up behind him, worry crawling all over my body. "What did you say?" I hear the tinge of disbelief in his tone. "Where were you?" His tone holds anger now as he turns to me, his eyes furrowed in anger. "I'll tell her." He hangs up and I notice the hesitance and bit of sadness in his eyes before he masks them.

"What is it?" I ask as Kol approaches me and I dislike how he looks at me with pity. "What happened? Are Nik and Bekah all right?"

He sighs. "It's Nik."

* * *

**And that is the end! No tears or sadness, it's not the end. But I will ask you all some things for inspiration for the sequel, I kinda need it, so bear with me with the questions because I need your answers to inspire me and make my piece of art.**

**Spoilers if you haven't seen Season 4 so don't read if you don't want anything to be spoiled to you beyond this point.**

**Here we go: Would you like for me to kill Kol permanently like in the show or temporarily? I can do both, but don't expect for any love triangles, I dislike them, but I always border close to them and give a bit of angst or whatever (I can be cruel sometimes). Would you like more Gwen/Klaus interaction, bordering on something more? Would you like some hate or love between certain people? Well, I'll leave you guys with these questions and you can give your thoughts on other things that are not included here, so open up and share your thoughts with me in reviews or PMs.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed and, well, see ya later!**

**HEY GUYS! I PUT UP THE SEQUEL, JUST TO LET YOU KNOW!**


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